Alright Clint, we get it. You are a patriot who loves America and hates seeing threats against America. Alright Tom, we get it. You are an actor who can take on any role and act at your finest every time. With both of those things in mind, Sully is a dull view of the plane that landed in the Hudson. Clint Eastwood's decisions in telling the story are scattered and footage is constantly reused to get the film over the 90 minute mark. The story recurringly thrusts the audience back to the scenario that only lasted for a couple of minutes. Odd flashbacks and PTSD combine to create a film that has little impact and feels disorganized.
Tom Hanks brings a decent performance to the role of Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. He is a believable pilot who encounters problems even after his heroic landing on the Hudson. As the storyline jumps around, Hanks is a constant for the film always acting as the helpful captain. Aaron Eckhart also makes for a good sidekick in his portrayal of First Officer Jeff Skiles. I cannot really complain about the duo, who act the best they can with the material that they are given.
One thing that I found to be a problem with the film was Eastwood's constant turn toward patriotism. This was seen in American Sniper, where the story revolved around a U.S. soldier. To me, the patriotism fit a bit better in that film. Yet, Sully's nudges towards 9/11 allegories often feel over-the-top and less fitting for the film. Eastwood is clearly capable of making good movies, so long as he doesn't get caught up with preaching too much about American pride. Sully got too caught up with ideologies on American pride, but it would be hard to create a film about that incident without having some sort of side-issue to discuss.
The Bottom Line: Sully is a well-made movie, but it gets too caught up with side-track stories and issues to maintain the audience's full interest.
Score: 6.5/10
Image credit: By Greg L - Larger size, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5723434
Tom Hanks brings a decent performance to the role of Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. He is a believable pilot who encounters problems even after his heroic landing on the Hudson. As the storyline jumps around, Hanks is a constant for the film always acting as the helpful captain. Aaron Eckhart also makes for a good sidekick in his portrayal of First Officer Jeff Skiles. I cannot really complain about the duo, who act the best they can with the material that they are given.
One thing that I found to be a problem with the film was Eastwood's constant turn toward patriotism. This was seen in American Sniper, where the story revolved around a U.S. soldier. To me, the patriotism fit a bit better in that film. Yet, Sully's nudges towards 9/11 allegories often feel over-the-top and less fitting for the film. Eastwood is clearly capable of making good movies, so long as he doesn't get caught up with preaching too much about American pride. Sully got too caught up with ideologies on American pride, but it would be hard to create a film about that incident without having some sort of side-issue to discuss.
The Bottom Line: Sully is a well-made movie, but it gets too caught up with side-track stories and issues to maintain the audience's full interest.
Score: 6.5/10
Image credit: By Greg L - Larger size, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5723434
