The enduring cultural icon of a director named Clint Eastwood is back at it again.
Eastwood's latest flick, "Sully", earned over 35 and a half million dollars during its opening weekend. Its success continued a week later, and the film seems to be living up to its hype.
And really, this comes as no surprise. A film adaptation based on the true story about the "Miracle on the Hudson" in the hands of Eastwood and starring the amazing Tom Hanks is bound to be a hit.
That's the thing about "Sully". It's not a plain movie that just tells the story of a real life event. Before it was released, it was always true that Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger became known as a hero after saving 155 lives in 208 seconds. However, what wasn't entirely revealed before the movie is how his 40 plus year career was nearly destroyed as a result of the investigation that took place.
Sullenberger was being questioned as to whether or not he could have flown the airplane back to the airport he came from or to the next nearest one in New Jersey. In a nutshell, US Airways believed that one of the airplane's engines was still in idle, and they felt that someone was to blame for the loss of the plane. Sullenberger, though, with over 40 years of experience flying planes, knew that he wasn't to blame, and neither was his co-pilot, First Officer Jeffrey Skiles. He knew that both of his engines were long gone, and based on his reaction and perception, there really was no other option than to land the plane in the Hudson River.
I have to be honest here: when the film's plot was in its earlier
stages, I found it to be a bit choppy. This is because it is not in
chronological order; it jumped straight into
Sullenberger suffering from post traumatic stress and the beginning of
the investigation of the emergency landing. The event of Manhattan was
instead used as the climax. Yet, as the film went on, I began to realize
that if it was organized in another way, "Sully" would be a film of so
much less action and heart warmth. It would start out epic and then be
composed of so much falling action that takes the excitement right out. By keeping the pickle that Sullenberger is in as the main focus throughout the plot, "Sully" keeps the audience bucked in all throughout.
"Sully" has its title for a reason. The Captain saved both 155 lives and his long career, and to see him come out on top in both cases shows how much of an inspiration he really is. It's a perfect example of heroism that shows how critical thinking can make an impeccable difference.
