Photo courtesy of Collider
By Adam Schalke, Staff Reporter
At first glance, “Sully,” the new film detailing the Miracle on the Hudson where Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger avoided a place crash by landing a jet on the Hudson River in New York, looks like somewhat of a head-scratcher.
Passersby examining the poster outside of a theater might think “Does this really need its own movie?” or “This is made by the same guy who did American Sniper and Gran Torino? Rest assured, Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks bring home a quality film with “Sully.”
The film reenacts the events of the Hudson landing as they happened, so the actual action only lasts several minutes or so. The rest of the film focuses on the aftermath of Captain Sullenberger’s actions, with federal investigators and regulators looking into Sullenberger’s actions to ensure that his actions were absolutely necessary and that he didn’t needlessly endanger the lives of his passengers.
Altogether, this gives the story of what happened on the Hudson something of an iceberg effect which the story told to the public was only a small fraction of what really happened.
Combined with another great performance by Tom Hanks, Sully makes for an excellent film. Some of Eastwood’s politics may bleed into the film with how the federal regulators are portrayed, however the film still stands as a quality opener to the fall movie season.
