By Ben McEachenMonday 12 Sep 2016The Big PictureMoviesReading Time: 3 minutes
Sully is the true story of an experienced pilot who, in 2009, safely landed a malfunctioning plane on the Hudson River (next to New York City). Tom Hanks stars as Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who was instantly crowned a hero by his nation – and the world. But Sully presents the airline crash investigation that happened straight after the landing, which challenged and questioned the accidental hero’s role in the airline “incident”.
RATED: Sully is rated M for mature themes and coarse language.
AUDIENCE: Fans of beloved actor Tom Hanks, or Clint Eastwood (who directs Sully). Also, fans of modern history or drama about public figures will want to get aboard Sully.
WHAT’S GOOD: Given how the world has been affected by the devastating 9/11 attacks in New York City in 2001, it’s great to remind the world of an NYC plane problem that had a positive outcome. Director Eastwood keeps the running time brief, and his focus primarily restricted to hero pilot Sully – and how he’s handling his instant fame and the bureaucratic pushback. Having played other real-life figures who found themselves also in unexpected situations requiring bravery and skill (most recently, in Captain Phillips and Bridge of Spies), Tom Hanks is made to play accidental hero Sully. Hanks brings the everyday humility and steeliness Sully seems to have, and it’s compelling to observe someone navigate high praise and suspicion following a near-death experience.
WHAT’S NOT: Despite being brief, Sully re-enacts several times the ill-fated flight, from a variety of different yet very similar perspectives. These becomes repetitive, even as they bring something new to our understanding of what happened up there. Sully also suffers from an unusual problem – there’s no real “bad guy”. Most stories rely on some tussle between good and bad forces. An attempt is made throughout Sully to present the airline investigators as inhumane, sterile and greedy; pencil pushers who only are interested in blaming the pilot for the plane troubles. But such a depiction doesn’t ring true, leaving the odd sense that we’re meant to despise these investigators, who are just doing their jobs?
SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING: Perhaps, like me, you are keen to ensure that God and His mighty Son Jesus have No. 1 spot in your life. We want them to be the heroes of our life story. As a result, you and I get uncomfortable when it comes to praising other people for what they do. Calling someone else a hero – or talking up their achievements – can almost feel like an insult to the supreme positions that God and Jesus hold. As I watched Sully, I was reminded that giving credit to people when it’s due is a wonderful thing to do. God uses all kinds of people in all kinds of ways to do things which, frankly, are heroic. Sully offers a gentle prod in the direction of encouraging us to appropriately celebrate heroes – not to ignore them (as if that’s some humble tribute to God).
RELEASE DATE: Now Showing