'Sully' is more of a monument than a movie
In 鈥淪ully,鈥� Tom Hanks is playing someone with ramrod rectitude 鈥� not聽exactly a stretch. (Remember 鈥淏ridge of Spies鈥�?) Captain Chesley聽鈥淪ully鈥� Sullenberger is the certified real-life hero who, on Jan. 15,聽2009, 208 seconds into lift-off from New York鈥檚 LaGuardia airport, flew聽into a flock of birds, knocking out both of his U.S. Airways jet engines聽only 2800 feet off the ground.
As all the world knows, Sullenberger 鈥� who, with his 40-plus years聽experience as a pilot, believed no other option was available to him 鈥撀爈anded the plane safely in the icy waters of the Hudson River.聽Miraculously, all 150 passengers and five crew members survived, with聽only a few suffering even minor injuries.
Rest assured director Clint Eastwood and screenwriter Todd聽Komarnicki have found a way to insert some dramatic tension into the聽proceedings. Not enough, though. Still, 鈥淪ully鈥� brings out a little-known聽aspect of this hero fest: Sullenberger, with his co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron聽Eckhart), was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board聽(NTSB) for possible negligence in landing the plane in the Hudson instead聽of LaGuardia or one of the neighboring airports.
Eastwood begins the film with Sullenberger鈥檚 nightmare of the plane聽crashing into a Manhattan skyscraper instead of landing in the Hudson.聽This establishes the fact that Sullenberger (like Skiles) is certifiably human, despite his supreme level-headedness at the moment of聽crisis. His rectitude and grace under pressure cannot entirely muffle his聽trauma. But the occasional blips of post-traumatic stress that Eastwood聽serves up seem more like concessions to reality rather than explications of聽Sullenberger鈥檚 inner life. For the most part, Sullenberger seems wounded more by the NTSB investigation than by his memories. (In reality, the聽hearings took place not in the immediate aftermath of the forced landing,聽but 18 months later.)
Hanks is very good at playing an Everyman, and Eastwood is content to聽showcase Sullenberger in that way. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel like a hero. I was just a聽man doing a job,鈥� says the captain in his most characteristic moment, and聽it鈥檚 clear that, for Eastwood, this attitude represents the highest masculine聽ideal. It鈥檚 a noble and ennobling stance but also, finally, a bit boring.
There are many kinds of heroism, of course, but the version on display in聽鈥淪ully鈥� is, well, unsullied, and that sort of thing is more suitable for a聽monument than a movie. Grade: B (Rated聽PG-13 for some peril and brief strong language.)
