Sully

It wasn’t that long ago that the entire United States became enamored with airline captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 who safely landed the plane in New York City’s Hudson River after a bird strike took out both its engines shortly after takeoff. It was the feel good story of 2009 and made him a national hero. While everyone is familiar with the landing itself and how not a single life was lost that day, the FAA investigation that followed questions whether or not Captain Sully did the right thing.

Sully’s focus is two-fold; half of the film is about the crash itself and the other half is about the FAA’s investigation into whether or not Sully could have successfully landed back at LaGuardia. The immense pressure of both situations is placed entirely on Sully’s shoulders. The film opens with the crash, only instead of landing in the Hudson we see the plane burst into flames as it crashes into a building. It turns out to only be a dream, but the sequence immediately shows that everything isn’t okay with Sully. Despite the situation going down in the absolute best way possible, Sully is clearly suffering from PTSD and is doing the best he can to handle the situation, including all the attention and fame he is receiving. The notion by the FAA that he did the wrong thing only further exacerbates things.

Tom Hanks without a doubt carries the film, giving a stellar performance as the captain who pulled off the impossible. On the outside he’s this larger than life hero who saved the lives of 155 people, but when he’s alone we see just how traumatic the experience was. Hanks excels in nearly every role he’s in, and that is especially true under the direction of Clint Eastwood. He’s the backbone of Sully, and makes the film about the person rather than just the event.

Sully isn’t perfect, however, and falters in its editing. The film alternates between the crash landing and the aftermath and does so quite frequently. There are some sequences that feel clunky and out of order. Once more, we’re given multiple viewpoints of the crash so it can seem a bit repetitive at times. And with the film being an already brisk 96 minutes, it sticks out like a plane in the Hudson.

That being said, Sully is still beautifully shot and rightly captures the intensity of the crash. It looks fantastic in IMAX and even though you experience the water landing multiple times it manages to be tense in each viewing. More importantly, the film showcases Sully from outside of his hero status with the public. He’s just a person, like everyone else, who just happened to perform the most successful ditching in aviation history. And with Tom Hanks in the pilot’s seat, I couldn’t imagine a better actor playing a better person.