Sully: Eastwood’s Story of Not One Hero But Many (Review)

There is one thing Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, and Sully Sullenberger all have in common: they aren’t comfortable with taking credit alone. Whenever asked, all three of them are quick to share the credit with others. Hanks always credits his fellow filmmakers and the cast. Eastwood always credits the writing and his reliable collaborators. And Sully, well, Sully knows that he wasn’t the only hero that day when US Airways Flight 1549 hit a flock of geese that blew out both its engines.

How much gratitude you feel toward first responders, and particularly New York’s finest in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack, will likely influence how you respond to Sully, an all-American film made by one of the best American directors Hollywood has seen — a man who, at 86 years of age, can create a film that’s better than almost anyone who follow in his footsteps. And in 2016, not many do. Most directors are either trying to be the next Scorsese or Spielberg or J,J, Abrams. They would be wise to follow Eastwood, however, who has slowly built a body of work that has sustained itself through every momentary flash-in-the-pan trend and flavor-of-the-month formula coming down the pike.

And yeah, I know, he said this or that. And yeah, I know, he talked to that chair. And yeah, I know, he would rather vote for Trump than Hillary. I know all of these things about him but none of that can make me love his films any less.

It turns out, after all of these years, I am a Clint Eastwood fan. I knew it when I was most excited to see Sully this weekend. I know it when I rewatch Changeling and Mystic River. There is something about the kind of films he makes that appeal to my sensibilities. Darkness, moodiness, methodical procedurals. Sometimes slow moving but always involving stories. All of that is present in Sully, even if it would be easy to write this film off as another typical snatched-from-the-headlines biographical docudrama.

Eastwood has developed a secret language with his longtime cinematographer, Tom Stern, going all the way back to Blood Work. This time with editor Blu Murray who has served as assistant editor on many previous Eastwood films. But all the emotional heavy lifting is done by the film’s star, Tom Hanks — the great Tom Hanks who is continually ignored for Oscar nominations just because he’ll forever be cursed with having won two in a row.

The film’s only weak spot is the thing that initially almost prevented Eastwood from taking on the project — the relative lack of a conflict. It’s just a story about a guy who makes a once-in-a-lifetime decision to land a plane on the Hudson River and save every life on board. Where’s the conflict? Well, eventually Sully’s decision is questioned and he has to prove he did the right thing considering the terrifyingly brief amount of time he had to think. The other conflict explored is Sully’s uncomfortable feeling of being the only person being called a hero and being given credit for something that he knows was a group effort. In fact, the shot of the ferry captain saying “nobody dies” is a heart stopper. All these rescue workers deserved to have a movie made about them. They deserve a big and broad pat on the back by America at large. They put their lives on the line to save as many people as possible and now, we can give them something back with a heroes welcome.

Eastwood does that beautifully. He also creates two major set pieces that examine the crash from two angles. The first shows us how the passengers experienced it. The second is how the crew experienced it. Both are breathtaking to watch. Both are worth the price of admission alone. But if you’re looking for a film that redefines the art form of cinema, you’ll be looking in the wrong place. This is the steak and potatoes of Hollywood filmmaking. This is nuts and bolts, from the ground up, writing, acting and directing old-school. Watching this film was, for me, like ordering up a wedge salad and martini at Musso and Franks.

Sully arrives at a time when we need to remember, as a country, that we still need to look out for each other. Perhaps it’s not exactly fashionable to be patriotic when buffoons like Donald Trump are co-opting the word in such an ugly way. It was a miracle what happened on that cold January day in 2009 on the Hudson River. Eastwood has made a movie to show people why no one died that day. Dedicated citizens were watching. Decisions were made. Risks were being taken and luck was with those on board. There wasn’t one hero but many.

What I admire about the three films I’ve seen and loved here at Telluride so far is that they each offer up an artist’s view of style. La La Land is a celebration of the old flourishes made new again, brimming with style and uncompromising artistic risk-taking. Manchester by the Sea exemplifies deliberate and evocative screenwriting with genuine human emotion and conflict at its heart. And Sully is yet another polished example of the mastery of a legend who has spent a lifetime in Hollywood — as actor, then as director, and now as a seasoned vet. Eastwood has always stood for uncompromising artistry. He is just not rewriting the rules because he doesn’t need to. He knows how to make a movie. Sully is what my friend David Carr would call a “movie movie.” And this. This is a movie.