Sunday, November 13, 2016

Eastwood assigns Hanks as the only quality of "Sully"



After numerous movies about crashes where the pilot and some (if not all) of the passengers survived, Sully arrives four years after the much superior Flight.  Whereas the afore mentioned Robert Zemeckis movie gave us a flawed, conflicted man who managed to (somewhat safely) land an otherwise sure-fire plane crash, this new fare about a real life pilot, Chesley Sullenberger (terrifically played by Tom Hanks), is simply too... safe.  The man is not an alcoholic, nor does he engage in drug consumption while flying a large commercial aircraft with hundreds of people on board.  The biggest conflict he faces is whether or not he'll keep his job as a result of crash-landing his plane (with both failed engines) on the Hudson River in New York City.  As the final act arrives, and as Sully faces a committee which stands to indict him on being reckless rather than following proper procedure in-flight, the movie dumbs down its climax to a happy, Hollywood style ending, where suddenly all those who opposed the recently famed pilot are quickly on his side again.  Clint Eastwood's film is more like a TV movie with A-list stars, with a protagonist so perfect in every way he may as well have a Halo over his head.
C

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