Sully

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Clint Eastwood/Starring: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Jamey Sheridan, Anna Gunn, Laura Linney and Mike O'Malley

Chesley Sullenberger, or Sully, as he is known to his colleagues, performed a daring but necessary landing of a United Airways passenger jet on the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 after a flock of Canadian geese disabled the engines. The fact that all 155 passengers, including flight crew, survived the ordeal is a testament to his awe-inspiring skills as an aviator. Though he is rightly considered a hero for his act, he nevertheless faced some scrutiny from the press and subsequently faced a National Transportation Safety Board inquiry for what was deemed a needless endangerment of passenger safety. The main focus of the hearing was his refusal to land at La Guardia Airport--where flight 1549 began--as an initial investigation claimed one engine was functional enough for an emergency return.

The historic flight and the investigation that followed is the subject of Clint Eastwood's Sully; which stars Tom Hanks in the titular role while Aaron Eckhart plays the co-pilot on the flight; Jeff Skiles. Eastwood's film isn't a drawn-out epic but a lean 90 minute drama. Though the harrowing flight is faithfully recreated and though the hearing yields some dramatic tension, the film seems pretty thin. Eastwood's film shows us the Hudson River landing was only the beginning of Sully's problems, but try as he might to make the hearings as compelling as the flight, his efforts unfortunately fail. The movie is entertaining enough but it rests on its adequacy rather than reaching for resonance.

The film doesn't begin with the actual flight but shows how the plane became crippled by a flock of geese, only a short time after take off. As the narrative moves in retrograde, the aftermath of Flight 1549 precedes the actual depiction of said flight.

As the story moves along, we see Sully's wife; Lorraine (Laura Linney, in a role that is notable for merely being that of an anxious wife at home, nothing more) is beside herself with worry as she learns about the ordeal after he instructs her to turn on the T.V. As we might expect, the media coverage becomes overwhelming, as does its presence on the Sullenberger front lawn.

We learn a little about Sully's piloting past as an Air Force pilot in a few flashbacks. A scene where Sully lands a technically compromised jet during a routine flight not only demonstrates his exceptional skill in handling aircraft but also shows he was hardly a novice when Flight 1549 went awry.

The film's most riveting sequence is the recreation of the flight itself, in which Sully ignores the air traffic controller's call for a return to La Guardia and the alternate suggestion of a landing at a New Jersey airport. The details are particularly fascinating, as we see the controller become nearly incapacitated with anxiety while on-board the plane, the passengers react with horror and bewilderment to Sully's "prepare for impact" warning. The actual landing, which is safely negotiated by Sully, is followed by another problem; the frigid waters of the Hudson River. We see the immediate and highly impressive response by the various New York disaster preparedness departments as they descend and converge on the floating plane to rescue passengers from the dangerously cold water.

The narrative, always maintaining its rapid pace, moves quickly from the near-disastrous landing to a courtroom, where Sully and Skiles face a NTSB inquiry. Needless to say, a guilty verdict threatens Sully's career. But we also see the positive response in the media and in the street, as Sully is received warmly by everyone who recognizes him. Among the well-wishers is a bartender; played by Michael Rapaport, who proudly serves Sully a drink named in his honor.

The outcome of the inquiry is hardly a mystery but the particulars of the "trial" are very interesting, specifically the numerous simulations that threaten to incriminate Sully and Skiles. Sully's request for key adjustments in the simulations, which allow for a more accurate picture of real flight conditions, dramatically alter the outcome of the proceedings.

Terrific performances by Hanks and Eckhart and an exciting recreation of Flight 1549 are two of the film's more salient attributes but the movie as a whole registers more as a stimulating history lesson than a gripping drama. It's hard to find fault with Eastwood's film but it's even harder to rhapsodize about it. I'll gladly see any Eastwood film release but unlike many of his recent efforts, this one rings hollow. No one can deny Sully's heroism but that may be one of the film's problems. His unassailable hero credentials leave little room for nuanced character exploration.

The film earns high marks for its technical accomplishments--the landing and the subsequent shots of the floating jet look quite authentic, as do the rescue efforts.

I can commend Eastwood for his high-mindedness in making Sully but nothing about it stuck in my mind Monday morning after a weekend screening. This is a story that needed to be told but it might be better served on a T.V. screen; where its modest ambitions will appear outsize.