Hard to dislike a hero movie, but...

Rating: 5/10 (8 June 2017)

I wanted to like this film. I really did. Having seen pilot Sullenberger on numerous TV shows, and recognizing him as an ordinary guy who just happened to "do his job" as he has said, at a perfect moment in time- thereby saving the lives of 155 "souls" aboard the ill-fated flight, January of 2009. The problem is that, often, the truth just isn't as exciting as a fictional screen play. Director Clint Eastwood attempts to show the (apparently truthful) friction between the NTSB Inquirey board and Sullenberger, but what he gets is cascading clichés: the heartless bureaucrats who refuse to look past the computer data and simulators, the incredulous pilots who are suffering sleep deprivation and nightmares, and a public clamoring to give Sully the keys to New York City. Also making cameos are the dutiful wife back in the burbs, worried about purchasing some casually mentioned house, and a sympathetic union rep who shrugs a lot.
Missing from this film version is the hysteria, noise, and confusion of a crash scene -Sully calls it a water landing- and the real look of people who feel as though they may die a cold, watery, death. The survivors are too collected, too calm and not very believable. Eastwood directs "Sully" as an homage, documentary style, to the extraordinary skill of Sullenberger. Unfortunately, Tom Hanks, as Sully, underplays Sullenberger to the extent that we see nothing of the man. On a ticky tacky point, Hank's make up job and gray hair only call attention to the fact that he really isn't Sullenberger.
On a technical note, the camera changes bothered me a great deal. The broad shots alternated with obviously hand held camera shots that could have been made with a film student's iPhone. Maybe this shouldn't get in the way of telling a great story, but it does to this reviewer. Most bothersome of all is the way the story is told in flashbacks that seem completely contrived. Borrowing flashback styles from any number of classic films, Eastwood mishandles this story by almost signaling to the viewer, "Here it comes!" On a positive note, you should see this film if you want to see an accurate portrayal of a "hero" who doesn't want to be one; the admirable and unassuming Sully Sullenberger. Just don't expect a wide range of emotional response from Tom Hanks. He played Sully all too well.