‘Sully’ review: An overrated abuse of facts, Clint Eastwood should be ashamed
Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is a hero. Plain and simple, the man is responsible for saving the lives of 155 human beings in the face of a crisis that most cannot imagining experiencing. Director Clint Eastwood teams with Tom Hanks to bring the biography, Highest Duty, to the screen with the film Sully.
Sully centers on the 2009 emergency landing of a commuter jet on the Hudson River and the alleged questions which were raised in the aftermath. The portrayal of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has sparked a backlash as they attacks on Sully are vindictive, serious and contrived in nature. The film intercuts between the investigation and replays of the incident, the crash itself, Sully’s nightmares and flight simulations.
At no fault of Hanks, this is the worst Eastwood film in years. The script smears the NTSB and the real life recognized this and asked for the real names of the investigators to be changed. There is so little film here, that it is incredibly tedious and bland.
Sully is a hero, that is the film in a nutshell and ten minutes of story are drawn out with the bogus NTSB investigation. I hate having to have the film tainted by the real life facts, but this is so blatant that it cannot go undersold. The entire film is about Hanks and the hero worship manufactured by Eastwood. The reality isn’t good enough and Eastwood is a better filmmaker than using knock-off Oliver Stone tactics to make a box office hit.
Joining Hanks is Aaron Eckhart as co-pilot Aaron Skiles, who is more of a sidekick with great one-liners that a viable character on screen. For example, when asked if he would have done anything differently, First Officer Skiles replies: “I would have done it in July.”
Sully is among the most overrated and disappointing films of the year. There are great moments, emotional and tense scenes, but in the end, the recycled and replayed plane crash is so overdone you are dreading the new one.
It is a “feel good film” and delivers positive emotions in time when many people are struggling to see light in all of the darkness, but there is very substance behind those emotions.
Sully receives 2 stars out of 5 stars
