Review
'Sully' proves anyone can be a hero
September 28, 2016
On Jan. 15, 2009, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) makes an emergency landing in New York's Hudson River after Flight 1549 strikes a flock of birds. Miraculously, all of the 155 passengers and crew survive the ordeal. Sully becomes a national hero in the eyes of the public and the media. However, the airline starts an investigation that threatens to destroy his career and reputation. Did he actually make the right decision by landing on the Hudson or not?
Director Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks come together to make a film. You know it’s going to be good when these two are involved (Please, God, let Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine find the fountain of youth). Clint Eastwood has not only been a talented actor for the last 60 years, but he really has established himself as a very talented director as well bringing us "Gran Torino," "Million Dollar Baby," "Unforgiven" and most recently "American Sniper." This film is right up there in those categories in the quality of direction and suspense. Then we have Tom Hanks who is, well, Tom Hanks. He is one of the best. Once again he delivers a powerful and spot on performance. Possible Oscar nominations out of Eastwood and Hanks? It’s too soon to tell but they really are both fantastic. Aaron Eckhart is the other big name in "Sully" and he is a very solid actor, as well. Both he and Hanks rock some very solid mustaches.
Is this movie a suspense thriller? Is it a drama? Yes to both of those and good ol' director Clint Eastwood brings these events forth in a very interesting fashion. "Sully" feels like a documentary-biography-mystery almost. He doesn't give you all the events right away. Eastwood slowly brings the events that build up to everything to really keep you engaged and wondering what is going to happen. Yes, we all know or have heard of what happened that day, but this movie is shot as if nobody had and I loved that. Like I said, it feels like a biography because we really get into the mind of Sully. It feels like a documentary in how it showcases the time frame and events that followed. It lastly nails the suspense and the horror that everyone felt during these events. It really feels like you are in the plane with them.
One last thing that I’d like to say is that the driving theme behind "Sully" is that anyone can be a hero. Sully wasn’t a superhero with special abilities that allowed him to fly the plane to safety; instead he was just an average man that handled the pressure of these events really well and knew how to execute his job perfectly. Anyone can be a hero. I feel like this is portrayed beautifully through the writing and the acting of Tom Hanks.
Two criticisms would be that it does start a little slow. It takes a while to build and for some people, I think that they might already be tuned out and then won’t really give the rest of the movie a fair chance. Next is that I don't feel "Sully" has a rewatch value. Yes, it is a really great movie, but is it one that you will want to watch over and over? No. Not really a bad thing because "Sully" achieves exactly what it wanted and needed to but it’s just that kind of story. Overall, a great story with some great acting and directing.
Average Man Score: 8/10 (4/5 stars)