It is difficult to make films based on real events. There’s so much source and reference material, not to mention human beings involved that a disjointed, uninteresting film is quite possible. But director Clint Eastwood is known for his hard-hitting cinema that’s inspired by real-life stories. And this time, Eastwood tackles the US Airways Flight 1549 landing in 2009, which brought to the spotlight Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and was dubbed the Miracle on the Hudson.
The film depicts the incidents that led to and what happened after Captain Sullenberger successfully landed the flight 1549 on the Hudson River, saving the lives of all the passengers and crew, totalling 155.
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Sully is a great watch, a 96-minute master-class in how to make films based on real incidents. Writer Todd Komarnicki and director Eastwood knew that most of the details of the incident would have already been out there. What did they do to make a film that’s interesting, intriguing and entertaining? They took the nitty-gritty, the small things that mattered much and cobbled a screenplay about it.
Another thing that the movie brings out in a great manner, something that rarely comes out in these ‘once-was-hero’ films is the self-doubt, the nervous tick that even the greatest feel as they take heroic actions. And then there’s another thing that works marvellously for the film – the cinematography by Tom Stern, who’s been an Eastwood regular since 2002. Stern succeeds in bringing every aspect of the story to the screen, thanks to his knowledge of when the tight shots, the panorama ones and the faux-shake aerial ones work.
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But at the heart of it all are the performances and Tom Hanks stands tall as Captain Chesley, a man who kept his devices to himself and did what he had to do to save the lives of all the people on board. Giving him able support is Aaron Eckhart – hiding behind a bush-moustache and stubble as Jeff Skiles, the co-pilot. Tom’s endearing performance grabs every scene he’s in and he makes it his own.
Sully has married off a disaster-salvage-film genre with the courtroom-drama genre and the result is a must watch.
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