By Travis Johnson
Based on the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson” air crash, wherein Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger managed to land a crippled airliner on New York’s Hudson river, this biographical drama looks like a return to form for director, Clint Eastwood.
Tom Hanks is Sully, and the film seems to follow the pilot not only through the events of the day, but also the subsequent investigation into the crash, which saw the poor guy put through the ringer. Hanks has made this kind of decent, everyday heroism his wheelhouse, so he’s bound to nail it here, and the supporting cast – Laura Linney, Aaron Eckhart, Anna Gunn, et al – is great.
The wild card here is Eastwood, whose recent work could charitably be described as “uneven”. We’ll find out if the elder statesman of American cinema is back on track when Sully hits Australia on September 8, 2016.