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)

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)

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)

Sully is a partially procedural drama and, in a second aspect, as is customary for Clint, a film about American patriotism, which, however, is conveyed in reasonable doses and with an understanding of human nature. It relies on the experienced Tom Hanks, who seems to have been born for such roles and does not have any significant weaknesses. The film has a reasonable length, a good screenplay, and a strong story. I would just note that I perceive the film not as a story about heroism, but about professionalism, which is, after all, very important in my profession. Overall impression: 75%. (01/02/2020)

Clint Eastwood as we like him the most: simple, economical, straightforward and this time almost without pathos. His reconstruction of a famous event is neither as overwhelmingly authentic as United 93 nor as classically cinematic as The Flight, it treads on the edge, somewhere in between, and it does a great job. Basically without a dead spot, every shot is a forward thrust. The accident scene is amazing, both in terms of atmosphere and visual effects. Another film where the great form isn't a crutch for a lack of screenwriting substance, but serves exactly where it's expected, something that very rarely happens in a film of this kind. If it weren't for Tom Hanks being a good guy in the 126th way (getting a little tired of it) and the final 30-60 seconds, it would be almost perfect. (09/10/2016)