Sully (2016) Review!!

Synopsis – The story of Chesley Sullenberger, who became a hero after gliding his plane along the water in the Hudson River, saving all of the airplane flights 155 crew and passengers.

My Take – What do you expect from a film when it has two of cinema’s greatest collaborating for the 1st time? Just pure excellence! Tom Hanks fresh off Captain Phillips and Bridge of Spies along with Clint Eastwood fresh off American Sniper and J. Edgar are without a doubt a perfect fit to show case a heroic event that portrays the best of human nature. If there’s one thing you can count on Clint Eastwood doing well, it’s directing an emotionally heartfelt story. This film continues Eastwood‘s success by giving us probably the most human drama of 2016. Running at a lean and spry 96min, this Clint Eastwood directed film isn’t so much a clinical bio-pic in the traditional sense, but an absorbing showcase of a man’s extraordinary professionalism in the face of danger. Sure, the film has the usual air disaster film conventions: the cross-section passenger list, the heroic captain, the beautiful and helpful stewards, the crash threat, experience and survival. But Eastwood defies genre conventions by focusing more on the man in the event than the event itself. Based on the real life event of January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1509, bound from New York’s LaGuardia International Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, was hit by a large flock of birds just thirty seconds after takeoff. The bird strikes disabled and damaged both of the jet’s engines; and though it managed to keep flight for another three minutes, there was no way it could return to LaGuardia, or make any attempts at an emergency landing at either JFK, Newark, or nearby Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The flight’s captain, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, made the split-second decision to ditch the aircraft in the Hudson River, rather than risk flying into any buildings. Incredibly, the aircraft, though damaged by the bird strikes and the water landing, stayed afloat long enough for rescue personnel to save the lives of all 155 people on that flight, an operation that took only twenty-four minutes in all. It was an aviation event the likes of which few, if any, in the world could ever recall happening. The incident has been into this highly engaging cinematic docudrama.

Based on the book “Highest Duty” by Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow, the story follows Captain Sullenberger (Hanks), who is haunted by his experience of landing his airliner on the Hudson River – and what might have happened if things had gone differently. Different scenarios play out in Sully’s head as he sleeps – and also while he’s awake, forced to relive the incident by NTSB investigators. Their questions and the facts about the “crash” (as they call it, “forced water landing”, as Sully calls it) lead Sully to second-guess himself and his actions, even as he is being hailed in the media and in person as a hero and he is being wholeheartedly supported by his wife, Lorraine Sullenberger (Laura Linney), via telephone from their California home. As the investigators (Mike O’Malley, Jamey Sheridan and Anna Gunn) repeatedly interview Sully and his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart), we hear information and arguments which will make the audience question whether Sully made the right call and whether he really is a hero. As Sully alternately struggles with those same issues and reaffirms his version of events for the skeptical investigators, we also see that short flight reenacted, from different perspectives and with more and more of the story coming to light. We also get a taste of the media frenzy which surrounded Sully and his family, and see flashback scenes of Sully’s earlier experiences flying as a teenager and in the military. Much like the protagonist, the film is a lean, workman-like film that does it job, and does it amicably. The narrative bounces between POV recollections of the crash and the immediate aftermath which includes Sully and the rest of the crew shuttled between investigations and press junkets. This is what I call technically expert filmmaking. We all know the ending, but are somehow still glued to the screen. Since restaging the actual saga of Flight 1509 would be a matter of getting all the details right, helped out by Sullenberger‘s own book and his four decades worth of flight experience, it was really up to Eastwood‘s direction, and Hanks’ ability to underplay, to get into the mindset of “Sully” as he dealt with all the media and government attention that he, his wife, and co pilot went through in those months following what the media had deemed the “Miracle On The Hudson.” Clint Eastwood keeps getting better. Just like his on-screen persona he doesn’t shy away as a director from tackling the controversial topics which are, often, inflammatory. Director Clint Eastwood seems to take particular relish in conveying stories of this nature. This is a pulse-pounding story of a red- blooded modern American hero. One who became lionized for doing his job. Yet instead of gravitating towards the limelight, Sullenberger humbly accepted his newfound hero pilot status while quietly but assuredly backing up his decision-making. Likewise the film doesn’t take victory laps or pounds its chest like some other Clint Eastwood directed film I can think of. Instead it lets the smart editing, clear and concise camera-work and nuts-and-bolts directing speak for itself. The film, like many multi-faceted well told stories, segues between time lines. Contrary to the expectations, the film is more about the post mortem (post-incident investigation) of the Hudson tragedy and the emotions of the pilot, Sully. As sub-plots, it also covered stories of some of the passengers and the people involved in the rescue. The theme of the film was very different from what I thought and that’s what I loved about it. It narrated the perspective of the pilot on why he did what he did (landing into Hudson river) and his thoughts for those couple of minutes. The story also delves into Sully’s life – his teens, youth, his family. Overall, the story carefully avoided the obvious and talked about the things most people wouldn’t know about – and that’s what makes it very interesting. Eastwood nails the big drama and the big issues post landing early to which he then, wisely, develops the actual take-off and landing. It shows graphically that in dire events there is scant time for second guessing.

All possibilities with all realities must be weighed instantaneously. Wrong choices will immediately cause irreparable consequences. This is where the instinct of a highly-trained and seasoned pilot is front and center. Sullenberger instinctively felt the failures of his aircraft and managed those as only a real-life pro could. It seems clear he knew any available runway was a no go. Instead of trying to push the improbable he went with what would be a risky, but only survivable, option. A forced controlled water landing in the Hudson River. Eastwood films this in a way that puts the viewer inside of this amazing decision. It all takes scant time where no guessing is an option. Watching the drama, it does take on the very real aspect of a miracle and this sequence powerfully nails it. The viewer is knotted painfully even as all survive and a second drama begins. Point made, the move segues ahead to the days afterward to which a few seconds prove Sullenberger achieved the only outcome for the survival of all 155 souls. Sadly, that does lead to a lot of issues. The film’s structure is a little all over the place for starters; Todd Komarnicki‘s scattershot screenplay rearranges the events rather than in order, which honestly would’ve been the better route. It starts with Sully after the crash, then before, then even back to his younger days, then the events at the hearing. It’s a weird structure and it’s made worse by the film deliberately finding ways to film the crash from multiple angles. Another issue lies in the film being too one-note in its short and sweet storytelling, in which Eastwood frames the NTSB as the bad guys who misunderstood Sully’s act of heroism. It gets reasonable at first, but then once the film shifts into the “man vs machine” court case, it gets distracting. I expected that to be the case all along, especially from a film made by an anti-government conservative, but it’s still unfortunate to see a huge sacrifice in complexity, both in narrative and in character. But this quibble can be forgiven because of the solid, workmanlike direction of Eastwood. This film is short, compact and solid – nary a scene too long or extraneous word of dialogue in the film. Eastwood, wisely, knows that the tension in this film is not whether or net Sully is cleared by the NTSB, but by the 208 seconds of the flight from the bird strike to landing and Eastwood films this so well and so precisely that I was glued to my seat, even though I knew what happened and how it ended. For good measure, Eastwood goes through that 208 seconds a 2nd time and I was just as glued to my seat that time as well! The whole cast is excellent. Who could possibly be better to play Captain Sully than the great Tom Hanks. Having wonderfully played another “controversial” captain back in 2013 as Captain Phillips, there was no doubt he could pull off a somewhat similar role. Boy does Hanks deliver. He always effortlessly pulls out the big speeches and powerful dialogue well, but I often find his subtler acting to be more impressive. While this may not be Hank‘s most demanding role, I think it will certainly be one of his most memorable, along with Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan. Aaron Eckhart has a couple of memorable scenes, and plays his part well. Laura Linney and Holt McCallany also give strong, solid performances. Only the trio of NTSB investigators – Mike O’Malley, Anna Gunn and Jamie Sheridan – fair poorly, but I think that is because the script really draws them with heavy, villainous lines – lines that need to be drawn to give the film some dramatic tension – but lines that do turn these three into caricatures, not human beings. On the whole, ‘Sully’ is a highly engaging, riveting & uplifting story of a real miracle told right by Clint Eastwood & Tom Hanks.