Film: Sully

GENRE: Biography Drama

RATING: PG-13 for brief language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 35 minutes

STARRING: Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies, Captain Phillips)

Aaron Eckhart (Thank You for Smoking), Mike O’Malley (Glee)

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, American Sniper)

WRITER: Todd Komarnicki (Perfect Stranger)

PLOT: The story of a pilot who saved all his passengers by landing on the Hudson River.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I like Tom Hanks movies.

STORY STUFF: Based on a true story, the events that unfolded were incredible. Eastwood does a great job showing the landing from various points of view and spending as much time as possible with the human factors. The non-linear storytelling also helps us stay engaged. There a couple of early Sully flashbacks that I think needed a bit more or maybe more learning experiences from later in life. What I really liked was that this film was uplifting and made me appreciate humanity, instead of all these doom and gloom films lately.     

ACTING STUFF: Tom Hanks is always a treat to watch. Sully is not an action hero, he is a quiet and reflective individual who did an amazing thing that he just considers part of his job. Hanks plays the quiet stoicism and internal emotion beautifully. Eckhart also does a fine job as his wing man in this film.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Eastwood does not add too many bells and whistles. This is a straightforward film, which is pretty refreshing.

VERDICT: Four stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like Tom Hanks and want to witness true heroism.
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Fall Television Preview