“Sully” Flies High

Clint Eastwood is no-nonsense.  There is no doubt about it.  One need only watch the movies he’s appeared in, the movies he’s directed like “Unforgiven” and “Million Dollar Baby”, and listen to recent comments about Donald Trump’s comments to know that Eastwood just delivers it to us straight.  No fluff.  No filler.

His latest offering, “Sully” is the story of Captain Chesley Sullenberger who was forced to

Land the plane on the Hudson River, soon after take off.  Casting Tom Hanks, perhaps one of our most trusted actors as Sullenberger was a good call, and Hanks does not disappoint.  He portrays Sullenberger as a no-nonsense tough guy with a good head on his shoulders and no room for funny business.  It’s easy to get caught up in his portrayal, and as always, we soon forget that we are watching Tom Hanks. The movie is definitely his movie, as the supporting cast is given very little to do other than help carry the story and do what supporting players do: support.  Aaron Eckhart as the co-pilot and Laura Linney as Sullenberger’s wife do a good job with very little, Linney “working from home” with only a telephone.  Many of the actors in the rescue scenes seem to be real people, and one wonders if Eastwood did that on purpose.  If so, it was effective.

The events of the actual story are presented in an interesting order.  Audiences don’t see the actual landing until well into the movie.  There are flashbacks and there are scenes that are shown more than once, from different perspectives.  Sullenberger has nightmares about what would have happened if he had taken the advice of the tower and turned back to LaGuardia.  The actual landing itself is stunning, powerful, and emotional.  Hanks does a wonderful job at portraying Sullenberger’s angst and inner turmoil as he frantically makes sure all the passengers are off the plane and into life rafts.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bad film directed by Clint Eastwood.  The movie is straightforward, as I said.  He tells the story.  When Sullenberger is questioned about why he chose to head on toward the Hudson, we can almost hear Eastwood.  Sullenberger tells the officials of the NTSB board that he used his 40 years of experience to make the decision.  “Yes, sir. I eye-balled it.”  In this day and age of paperwork overload and questioning professional people to death, the audience will applaud.

Sure, I had a few issues with the film.  I felt that Linney was underused (but what else could they do with her?) and I am not sure I understood why we were shown flashback’s into Sullenberger’s early career, other than to show how he got to be who he is today.  My issues are minor and none of them cause problems with the story.

Go see “Sully.” I give it a solid “A.”  You will come away satisfied with the story and anxious to read more about it.  Tom Hanks will be nominated for an Oscar and I’m thinking that Clint Eastwood and the picture itself will also be nominated.  None of them will win, but the film, the director and the star will get plenty of attention.

“Sully” is rated PG-13 for some sporadic profanity with a neat-little-package running time of 96 minutes.  It opens in theaters on Friday, Sept. 9.