See it at the Movies

Sully

By Joyce and Don Fowler
Posted 9/15/16

SULLY

* * * *

(Honest, emotional portrayal of “Miracle on the Hudson”)

Whether he’s playing a heroic captured ship’s captain or a heroic airline pilot, Tom Hanks has a unique …

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See it at the Movies

Sully

Posted

SULLY

* * * *

(Honest, emotional portrayal of “Miracle on the Hudson”)

Whether he’s playing a heroic captured ship’s captain or a heroic airline pilot, Tom Hanks has a unique ability to get inside a person’s head and heart and make that person so real.

Under the careful direction of Clint Eastwood and the subtle, controlled performances of Aaron Eckhart as First Officer Jeff Skiles and Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s wife (Laura Linney), “Sully” is an honest, emotional portrayal of “The Miracle on the Hudson.”

We have seen the images of the water landing (not “crash,” as Sully repeats over and over again) many times on TV, but we still found ourselves holding our collective breath as it unfolds on the big screen.

Most important, we learn about Sully, his background and training, his doubts, his skills as a pilot, his caring for the thousands of “souls” he has safely transported, his nightmares after the landing, and his awkwardness in dealing with the media.

There is no awkwardness when answering the probing members of the National Transportation Safety Board, who question his decision to land his plane in New York’s Hudson River, rather than try to make it to two nearby airports. The by-play between Sully and the somber board members is as exciting as the landing and rescue of all 155 passengers and crew in the icy January waters of the Hudson River.

Sully has trouble dealing with the instant fame and also with the criticism of the “experts.” Hanks makes you feel for him and what he is going through.

“Sully” is certainly about an amazing man performing an incredible feat, but it also gives credit to the crew, passengers and rescuers who worked together in one major dramatic rescue.

Stay around for the credits and photos of the actual people involved, which follow a classic answer by Skiles when asked if there is anything he would have done differently.

Rated PG-13 with minor profanity. Take the kids.

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