"I don't feel like a hero. I'm just a man doing his job."

Rating: 8/10 (17 September 2016)

Suly opens with Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) having a PTSD-induced, 9/11- reminiscent vision of a plane crashing into a Manhattan skyscraper. This is the "what-if" scenario that haunts the titular hero after successfully landing the engine-blown Flight 1549 on the chilly Hudson River, and miraculously saving all 155 souls onboard. As he snaps back into reality, we will soon learn that the "untold story" lies on the aftermath of the averted tragedy. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) starts to investigate and finds results that does not jibe with Sully's estimation: the left engine is still operational and he could have landed the plane on the nearest airport instead of risking passengers' lives with a forced water-landing. "Over 40 years in the air, but in the end I'm going to be judged on 208 seconds," Sully laments and sadly, he's right. Has there been a lapse of judgment on his part? Or could this be NTSB's attempt to use him as a scapegoat against the future lawsuits that will be filed? Director Clint Eastwood may put you into the mind of Sully, yet you won't be able to conclude beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Eastwood turns this feature film into an introspective character study narrated in a contemporary fashion. He feeds his viewers with seamlessly-integrated, piecemeal flashbacks that takes us to the events on that fateful afternoon. He does not take the route of presenting a straightforward inspirational tale but he's more interested on a bigger issue here – man's internal turmoil to redeem himself. As we witnessed in his previous works like American Sniper, this is where he shines best. Still, he remains simple as a filmmaker. The restrained execution of plane crash may not please fans of extravagant tent-pole films but the wave impact brought by the musical scoring and sound editing is impressively realistic and accurate.
Hanks shines as well in this yet again perfectly-tailored role – a brave, diligent and sturdy ordinary American hero facing against insurmountable odds. It's already a cliché thing to say that Tom Hanks is a brilliant actor but what I like about his performance is that it does not scream of: "Look at me! I'm a great actor! Give me an Oscar!" He can be minimal in his acting – during an intense bird-engine collision scene, he stoically yells "Birds." and still, he sells a nuanced depth into the character. The same can be said to the underrated Aaron Eckhart as co-pilot Jeff Skiles, the funny guy who mocks the things that Sully is often too nice to say. He earns the film's final laugh.
Whereas Hanks has weathered rougher storms in his previous travel-disaster films like Apollo 13, Cast Away and Captain Phillips, Sully, however, offers less dramatic weight. We already know by now that everything will turn out fine in the flashbacks so the suspense gets to be partially ruled out. It can also be a bit underwhelming that the closest thing you'll have here for antagonists are the suspicious bureaucrats (Mike O'Malley, Anna Gunn, and Jamey Sheridan) armed with computer simulations that should put Sully's career and pension at risk. The depiction of investigation somehow appears to be exaggerated for the sake of adding tension. The straw villains here will probably have more social relevance when they are viewed as Eastwood's take on modern cynicism: that even the noblest of men can still be subjected to harsh scrutiny.
Just when Sully is on the verge of becoming a saccharine adulation to its hero, Sully gives credit where credit is due, "I don't feel like a hero. I'm just a man doing his job." He's right. This is not only the story of a man saving 155 souls but this is the story of a whole community coming together in the midst of tragedy – his co-pilot, the passengers, the flight attendants, the radio operator, the ferry boat captain, the coast guards and even the bit- players, no matter how thinly-sketched as they may be. Eastwood may not succeed in offering much meat for those who are expecting of a shocking conspiracy, but the fact that he's been able to effectively deliver the human element from a 208-second incident in such a short run- time is praise-worthy enough.
Full review: http://www.filmpolicereviews.com/reviews/sully