Sully (2016) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Clint Eastwood

Starring:  Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Mike O'Malley, Jamey Sheridan

In what was termed "The Miracle on the Hudson", on January 15, 2009 US Airways flight 1549 piloted by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger suffered dual engine failure shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, thanks to a flock of birds who flew into the engines.    He decided to land the airplane directly on the Hudson River instead of diverting to a nearby airport, which would've taken more time and perhaps caused a deadly crash    Everyone on board survived after a quick rescue and Sully was lauded as a hero, even as he modestly retorted he was just doing his job.  

 
The National Transportation Safety Board didn't quite see it that way.    They believed at first the plane could've landed safely on a runway instead of the freezing waters of the Hudson.    After all, their computer flight simulations say so.    They neglect Sully's 42 years of flying experience and don't believe him when he says, "I felt both engines go,"  They are skeptical of his claims that he never would have been able to land safely elsewhere.    This conflict is at the heart of Clint Eastwood's taut, tense drama Sully, which captures not only the water landing itself, but Sully's efforts to defend his actions against bureaucrats who don't much care that the world sees him as a hero.

Tom Hanks has the role of everyman nailed down pat.    In performance after performance, he leaves us in awe with his humanity.    We identify with his characters and their determination, their desire to go above and beyond their call of duty, and in some cases the sacrifices that entails.    It is astounding Hanks, winner of consecutive Best Actor Oscars in 1993 and 1994, has not been nominated for an Oscar since 2000's Cast Away.    Is he taken for granted now by the Academy?    Sully may force the Academy to look again.     This is a role Hanks was born to play.    It is difficult to think of another actor who can pull this role off.  

I don't know if the story Sully tells about the NTSB is accurate, but it makes for great drama.    The NTSB is seen as a collectively stiff group of heartless bean counters who pore over policies, procedures, computer data, and numbers, all in the name of heading off potential litigation.     They treat Sully's experience not as a valuable resource, but as an excuse to imminently put him out to pasture.   To them, Sully's feel for the plane and his knowledge of the equipment takes a back seat to what rehearsed flight simulations show.    Sully acts as the audience's voice when he observes how simulations don't capture the human element of the event itself.    What happened to Flight 1549 was unprecedented in flight history and the time needed to process the surprise and analysis of the situation should certainly be factored in.

I doubt the NTSB would allow itself to go into a public hearing as unprepared as it does in Sully, but it does lead to a satisfactory payoff as Sully and his supportive co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Eckhart) tear apart the board's case.    If Hanks is the correct actor to play Sully, then Eastwood is the correct director for this material.    Eastwood is above all things a master storyteller.    In his successful movies, he tells his stories lean without the gristle and fat.    Sully clocks in at just over 90 minutes while telling us everything it needed to tell and saying everything it needed to say.       

Sully believed he was just doing his job, but watch how he ensures all of the passengers are safely off the plane before he leaves himself.   Watch how he can't rest until he is assured all 155 souls on board survived.    His actions as well as his professionalism and cool head under pressure further define what the world already knows about him.