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Hanks, Eastwood team up for Hudson emergency landing drama ‘Sully’

On January 15th, 2009, an airline pilot saved 155 people aboard US Airways flight #1549. Coupled with his own traumatic memories and nightmares of the event, it’s hard for him to accept the hero label. Eastwood knows exactly where this movie is going and he knows each and every specific scene he needs to tell the story. We had minor moments of PTSD but there was deeper stories here. Seeing the media ignore the work that Skiles did in the cockpit would have gotten to him.

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Still, the film looks pretty, the plane scenes are effectively thrilling and unsettling at the same time. It’s too generous with the other characters to be called that, and treats its protagonist as modestly as he treats himself; a couple of flashbacks to his early days as a young pilot and a few phone calls to his wife (Laura Linney) are just about all it provides in terms of biography.

The incredible true story captured the world’s imagination as reports flooded in with the good news. However, it’s also a fairly straightforward story to an extent.

“They did not need to see more wreckage, more flames on the water”. The film, Eastwood and Hanks should all be recognized when awards season rolls around. This news story is related to Latest/148755-Tom-Hanks-explores-the-drama-and-trauma-of-being-a-hero-in-Sully/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne.

The real drama comes in the wake of the landing, and the film’s second half benefits as a result.

Could the plane have made it back to LaGuardia Airport if Sullenberger, portrayed by actor Tom Hanks, had turned it around? Both are convincing, and there’s great chemistry between the characters. He populates the cast with a host of NY character actors, including recognizable faces such as Michael Rapaport, Holt McCallany and Mike O’Malley, as well as other less familiar but no less authentic faces.

I walked in knowing what to expect from this movie but ultimately, I was let-down even more.

“Sully” was written by Todd Komarnicki, based on the book “Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters”, by Chesley Sullenberger with Jeff Zaslow.

Clint Eastwood directs Sully, his first completed film after 2014’s Oscar-nominated American Sniper. It’s exciting – particularly with Hank’s typical, believable performance – but it’s not enough for a whole film. Sullenberger is ideal for Hanks. “They’re heroes too. There was an terrible lot of heroism on display that day”. Here, however, it feels like another 20 minutes could have provided some of the missing depth. First one, I recognize the awesome showing of pilot Chelsey Sullenberger and the skill it took to pull off the maneuver he did. Sully is uncomfortable with his newfound celebrity! Hey, I guess when you’ve survived Apollo 13, landing a plane on the Hudson is a bit easier.

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But that was only the beginning, as the plane started slowly sinking into the freezing water below; once they get out, investigators start combing Sully’s life for any trace of pilot error, and he’s no longer sure if he did the right thing.

Nightmare plane flight revisited in Clint Eastwood's Sully