Sully (2016), PG-13, ★★★1/2

Sully on the phone after a plane "landing".

I remember the event which is now titled, "Miracle on the Hudson", in which a pilot landed on the Hudson saving 155 passengers and crew in which multiple geese struck the engine causing a failure and Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenger took the initiative to land the plane on the Hudson. When I was watching the news on CNN, I thought I hope nobody got hurt or even worse, suffered fatal injuries. Luckily, everybody was saved despite a few getting injured and being hospitalized but it was a event to witness and to recognize Sully and his staff to calm the passengers aboard and getting everyone safe. But, the movie revolves around not just the event, but also the NTSB investigation of the event as they question whether or not Sully took the right course of action. This is a quietly triumphant movie that chronicles a solid actor-director foundation to deliver a tribute to the man who does not want to be accepted as a hero. It is an attention-getter.

The movie opens with a nightmare that has been haunting Captain "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) that had him crashing a plane into a building. It has been a week since he successfully landed the aircraft onto the Hudson River, saving all 155 passengers' and staff's lives. However, he has been haunted by that event. Sully and his co-pilot/friend, Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) has been called into a board of people who has been investigating the event. One of the men, Charles Porter (Mike O'Malley), questions Sully as to whether he has been drinking or taking drugs. Skiles defends Sully's actions as he was next to him on the right side when the event occurred as the left engine had been idle, but Sully disputes that he felt both engines dying.

We see some flashbacks back to the event of January 25th, 2009 in which Sully and Skiles are in the middle of the chaos in which a large flock of geese fly into the engines, causing both of them to falter. Sully warns everyone to brace for impact as both Skiles and Sully try to land on the Hudson. But, also, we flashback to the same event from the point of view of the passengers as they are being evacuated by raft and helplessly do everything to escape. All 155 souls were accounted for and are helped. But, also, when Sully's wife, Lorraine (Laura Linney) finds out about the event as his husband was also involved, she calls him to see if he is fine.

They are both in the line of questioning. 

This is one of Clint Eastwood's best movies and I think he is back in form as his last movie, American Sniper, a movie that many are divided but I thought it was remarkably well done and also a movie I may not want to see again after watching it a second time. But, the movie is succinct with such discipline as we solely focus on both Sully as a human being and a veteran pilot and the NTSB investigation. It is purely focused filmmaking but also with such detail for producing vantage points from the passengers, pilots and the control room.

But, the movie is very good because of Tom Hanks' effortless and admirable performance as an Everyman, a type of character that he is very good at playing, who is doing his job but also takes a course of action of doing the right thing and saving everybody's lives. He is doing his duty and even when he is treated as a hero, Sully does not think so and he is surprised by the accusations and the fan support. Also, I thought Aaron Eckhart is very good as Sully's co-pilot friend who supports him and he is also funny and lighthearted, especially delivering the last line of the movie. Laura Linney has a thankless role playing Sully's wife, in which she is on the phone for the whole movie but is not overdoing it by expressing her emotions. So, I understand why the real Sully did not want much of his personal life in the movie. He wants to keep things private.

The only criticism for this movie is its structure as its editing is a bit off when showcasing Sully's young life as a pilot and I did not think it was a necessary scene to show because it takes away the reality from the investigation from becoming sort of a docudrama. I thought it was irrelevant to the main story. But, again, Eastwood has an eye of calculated detail with very good special effects and tense drama throughout the film with the investigation and the event even though you know what happens. But, this is the movie that kicks off the fall season on a very good note and even its 96-minute runtime does not detract you to go see it.

***1/2