Sully

With an excellent script, sensitive direction and the (once again) amazing Tom Hanks, Sully is subtle in the usual Clint Eastwood style, relatable and intimate, just as the actual event deserved and its perception and understanding required. I strongly considered giving it a fifth star, because it is a minor miracle what the director managed to do with the source material – without any more dramatic emotions, but also without a single, even microscopic flaw in the movie’s beauty. (09/28/2016)

No excuses, no messing around, only sensitively dosed pathos and no clichés. Through a cleverly constructed structure the movie doesn't beat about the bush, in other words it directly portrays the conflict of a man who while flying the aircraft without engines failure accomplished seemingly impossible and who is subsequently, under the pressure of others, begin to doubt whether by chance what he did, on the contrary, was not the worst possible solution and unnecessary bravery. Hanks proves again that he has no competition overseas when it comes to the box of "ordinary good guys next door". It hit the bull's-eye and is gripping at all times, during the freezingly calm and controlled crisis landing itself, in the moments of the beginning of panic and after it, during the intense questioning in front of the commission and during the self-searching wandering through frozen New York. Although it might seem like a Zemeckis' Flight at first glance, it is much closer to Greengrass’ United 93. (09/09/2016)

The best new film since... Well, since Bridge of Spies. And it probably isn't a coincidence that Tom Hanks is also in it, because Sully is so very great in the first place, though not only because of him. I especially liked the ubiquitous tension and believable dramatic atmosphere. Whether the viewer knows in advance what happened on the Hudson or not (although after a few minutes everything is clear even to him), Eastwood's precise direction leaves him almost permanently shivering and waiting breathlessly for what will come in the next scene. We see the landing several times, but each time in a different way, and we never get the feeling that something is repeating itself, because the plot resembles a building kit made of many pieces that gradually fit together. Everything is carefully balanced - tension, pathos and humor - the main character is not a superman, but just an ordinary man who has done the incredibly right thing, but suddenly faces such pressure that he starts to doubt himself. What is admirable and commendable is that the film does not slip into any depressing drama full of regrets and question marks, but keeps its head above water and keeps winking at us: Don't worry, it will turn out well. It would be a shame to miss such an excellent film, as modest as its main character. (09/21/2016)

Clint knows how to play the viewer. He has a very gentle and understated way of introducing a character you will like who will make the film fun for you. He also sets it in some sort of framework of human drama. Here, he didn't even have to make it up, here it was written by fate itself, so it's actually all the better for it. Maybe. A very good film, strong, can definitely play on the viewer's heartstrings, the acting is actually flawless. But I guess I've seen too many similar films that I'm not particularly blown away by it. The movie’s over and I know I won't watch it again or remember it tomorrow. Otherwise, if it ends up leaving something in me, I'm raising my rating. But at this point "only" a strong 3 stars. (01/02/2017)

Isn’t Clint Eastwood overdoing it it a bit with the nationalism? OK, I can take a war movie about a famous American flag, I can even take the story of an American sniper, whose life is quite tough, but is it really necessary to shoot a detailed reconstruction of how a plane landed on the Hudson River eight years ago? I’m not surprised that without the opening and closing credits this movie takes hardly 90 minutes because there really isn’t much to add. And I have to say that I didn’t really like the digital effect scenes involving the plane. Maybe fifteen years ago, but today? Thank god Tom Hanks was cast in the lead role because he’s not going to get any worse. But for the rest, I don’t want to see that ever again. (01/30/2017)