"Sully" is a 2016 American film depicting the heroic activities of one Chesley Sullenberger when he landed US Airways Flight 1549 successfully on the Hudson River. The film is based upon the autobiography written by Chesley Sullenberger recounting the events leading up to and following the landing and the emotions he felt. 

"Sully" was written by Todd Komarnicki and directed by Clint Eastwood. The cast is headlined by Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart. 

Cast:

Tom Hanks

Aaron Eckhart

Laura Linney

Anna Gunn

Autumn Reeser

Holt McCallany

Jamey Sheridan

Jerry Ferrara

Chesley Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles make an appearance as themselves at the end of the film. 

Plot:

The film starts by introducing us to Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Hanks). He is the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549. The film shows us the process that lead up to the plane taking off. All of the checks that were performed and what the day was like. It also gives us a glimpse inside the head of Sullenberger as it is made apparent that he is battling some inner demons of his own by showing us glimpses of some of the dreams he has been having.

Shortly after taking off the plane is hit by a bird strike. If you are not familiar, a bird strike is where a flock of birds accidentally flies into an an aircraft while it is in flight. Bird strikes can be very dangerous as they can often disable the engines or crack the windshield. In fact bird strikes can be some of the most dangerous and unpredictable situations pilots face. 

After hit by the bird strike the engines are immediately disabled. Sully and his co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Eckhart) perform the appropriate procedures and upon going through all of their checkpoints they deem that they may not be able to make it back to the airport for an emergency landing. 

They call in to another nearby airport asking for permission to land there. The airport clears a runway for them but after a couple more seconds Sully and Skiles begin to realize that they likely won't be able to make it to that airport either. Upon coming to this conclusion, Sully decides he is going to have to try and land the plane in the river in order to try and save everyone's lives. 

Miraculously, Sully is able to pull off the landing and save everyone's life that was on board. For this action one might think he was a hero, but that is just the beginning. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as well as the insurance company start an investigation and their preliminary results show that the pilot may have acted recklessly in landing in the river and very likely might have been able to make it back to either airport...

This becomes a very hotly debated issue as one outcome would make him a hero and the other outcome would make him reckless and incompetent and cost him his job at the very least. As the film winds on more information is revealed leaving you wondering more and more which one Sully truly was, before finally revealing the outcome of the investigation at the end. 

I won't go into any more detail here in case you haven't seen the film yet or don't know the whole story of what happened that January day in 2009. If you want to find out what happened, you will just have to rent the flick. :) 

Reception:

The film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and regular viewers alike. Tom Hanks is praised by critics for his ability to make us believe that he actually is Captain Chesley Sullenberger and Clint Eastwood is praised for his ability to make the audience feel the emotions the Captain is experiencing as well as keeping the audience guessing at the eventual outcome throughout most of the film. 

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 85% approval rating. Which, if you are not familiar with the site, is a fairly high rating. IMDB gives the film a 7.5/10 rating and the American Film Institute rates it as one of the Top Ten Movies of the Year for 2016.  

Financially the film has done very well. It has generated close to $240 million to date with a budget of only $60 million. It set the record for the biggest IMAX 2D opening for a film released in September with $5.1 million earned.

My Review:

Overall I thought the film was very good. I did not know or had forgotten the complete original story when it first made headline news almost 10 years ago so I went into this film with almost no expectations except that I had heard it was good from a few friends that had seen it. 

The film is kind of interesting in that it is more about emotions and feelings that actual events, similar to the way a lot of Clint Eastwood films are. They really show the human element of people and of the story. The main character seems to be battling old demons much the same way many people are and can relate to. 

I also felt like they did a great job of not letting you know which side of the debate was the side I needed to be on until the very end of the movie. Just when I start feeling like he is innocent of the charges against him, they introduce some new information and start to make me wonder. Conversely, just when I started to think he was guilty of the charges, they introduced new information that pulled me right back to thinking he was innocent. The movie does a great job of not revealing their cards until the very end. 

I thought the cast fit their roles very well. Tom Hanks stars in one of my favorite movies of all time, "Forrest Gump", so I have always had a soft spot for his films. I could see Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart actually performing the jobs they portrayed in the film in real life, I guess that is why they were cast. :)

Overall I would give this film a 9/10 rating. 

It was a very good film that was enjoyable for the entire family. Although, my stepson fell asleep less than half way through it, so maybe it will have a tough time holding the interest of anyone under the age of 10. Apart from that, if you haven't seen the film, I would recommend watching it. It can be picked up currently from Redbox for less than $2. My opinion, it's worth the view.  

Live well my friends!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sully_(film)

Image Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3263904/mediaindex?ref_=tt_ov_mi_sm

Follow: @jrcornel