Sully-2016
Director-Clint Eastwood
Starring Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart
Scott’s Review #623
Reviewed March 10, 2017
Grade: B
I think most film critics would agree that each modern film directed by Clint Eastwood would accurately be described as compelling films yet safe films and the 2016 Eastwood offering, Sully, fits into both of these categories in snug fashion- just as Sully feels like a snug film.
Everything seems to fit into a nice package by the time the credits roll and while the film is sympathetic and has leanings of a character study, it is also shrouded in a wholesomeness that is incredibly safe and “Hollywood”.
This is not a knock or a demerit towards the film as it is very good and well made with a high budget, but edgy is not its thing in the least and it might have gone for a bit more grit.
The quite recent perilous United Airways flight 1549 that now-famous Captain Sully successfully landed into New York’s frigid Hudson river one January morning, is recounted in the film.
Tom Hanks plays the role of the subdued and unassuming hero to perfection as his calm demeanor and grounded persona makes him quite a likable chap to say nothing of the fact of saving 155 lives aboard the would-be doomed flight that day.
Instead of going in a purely linear direction, building up the events (gravitating passengers, takeoff) in sequential order, until the inevitable crash, Eastwood wisely decides to begin directly after the crash has already happened.
Captain Sully, clearly jarred by the events, is startled awake by nightmares as he dreams of crashing into midtown Manhattan instead of safely landing the jet.
The hero is beginning to suffer from symptoms of PTSD. He is kept in New York City for days on both a press tour, interview after interview, as well as being questioned by The National Transportation Safety Board, who wonder why Captain Sully did not return to a nearby airport for an emergency landing as simulated computer recreations show that he could have.
This leads to both Sully and First Officer Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) being put under a microscope and questioned.
I was a bit caught off guard, and getting slightly bored, as the film takes about thirty minutes to even focus on the actual crash or show and airplane scene, rather building up the events by focusing on Sully and Skiles mental health, but in retrospect, this is a wise decision by Eastwood.
The entire film in itself is barely over ninety minutes total so the action does come fast and furious mid-stream.
Still, the film is not quite all that it could have been. Despite the potentially horrific consequences faced with an airplane blowing both engines due to the flocks of birds, I never got many extremely perilous moments during the film.
The danger scenes as Sully navigates the plane into the river, while technically well done, lack much in the way of the punch.
Sure, there are a few quick shots of passengers praying or appearing frightened, but we never get to know any of the passengers very well.
A “don’t blink or you might miss it” scene of an elderly mother and her daughter shopping for a snow globe at the airport or three men rushing to catch the plane to catch a golf game in Charlotte are not enough for the audience to become too enveloped in their characters.
They almost seem thrown in the last minute as a way of personalizing the passengers.
To my mention above, the point of the film certainly surrounds Sully (and arguably it should; nothing wrong with that) and to a lesser degree Skiles, the supporting characters contain no character development and even Skiles’s personal life is not explored well.
Scully’s wife is only seen by way of phone conversations (played by Laura Linney) that he is happily married with two daughters. There is brief talk of some money trouble, but the wife is underdeveloped.
Additionally, the NTSB agents are portrayed as quite antagonistic towards Sully and Skiles (rumors abound that this was embellished for movie making), which makes sense.
I enjoyed the ending of the film- in tandem with the credits rolling- of seeing not only the real-life Sully, but his wife, and the passengers and crew of the real United Airlines flight 1549, through interviews and photographs.
This offering in true life biography films is now a standard feature to look forward to as it brings a humanistic conclusion to the story just watched.
The focus of the film centers on Captain Sully is fine by me- the man is a hero- but as a film, and more than a biography, it might have added depth to have richer supporting characters and a stronger background of the man that is Sully.
A few rushed childhood aviator and battle plane scenes seemed rather out of place.
Still, as a whole the film is nice and quite watchable, just nothing that will set the world on fire or be remembered as much more than a decent film based on a true story.
Oscar Nominations: Best Sound Editing