Sully - Movie Review

Sully - A simple film with good life lessons to teach.

Sully was released in 2016 and was directed by Clint Eastwood, and stars Tom Hanks as

Chesley, “Sully” Sullenburger. The movie is based on the 2009 autobiography by Sullenberger titled, “Highest Duty”, and is primarily centered around one event in Sullenberger’s life.

On January 15 th , 2009 Sully and his first officer, Jeff Skiles boarded US Airways Flight 1549 at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Just Three minutes into their flight, the Airbus A320 was struck by a flock of birds knocking out both engines. What do they do? He could try and turn back or try and make Tererboro Airport which was closer, or try and put the plane down in the Hudson River. In between the Hudson and the Airports is the most densely populated city in our country. If he doesn’t make it to one of the airports, he won’t be able to make it back to the Hudson.

With only seconds to make a decision, with one hundred and fifty-five people on board the plane, and millions in the surrounding city, Sully decides to put the plane down in the Hudson. Sully pulled off the landing, and even more miraculous than that was that all 155 passengers survived the event. Sully was hailed as a hero by most, but the National Transportation Safety Board wasn’t so sure, it wasn’t just pilot error. The vast majority of the movie focus’ on the investigation that took place afterwards and the vindication of Sully and Skiles.

There really isn’t a whole lot this film. It’s about Sully landing the plane in the Hudson, and how amazing that was which they showed several times over in the film which was only an hour and half long. This movie was written and directed well, and the acting was really good, there just isn’t much to it.

A couple of things that I think they did well, was illustrate the trauma of the event on both Sully and Skiles. Yes, it was an amazing event, and praise God for that…and praise God that He spared New York another horrendous plane crash…all that was wonderful, and Sully was called a hero, however, the event was still very traumatic. We live in a world, where everyone wants to be a celebrity but few understand what that will cost them, and where everyone wants to be the hero but few understand the sacrifice that will be paid.

In the end, those who are usually called heroes, aren’t those who are looking for it. They are those who were just doing their duty, and had to make a call in the moment. However, as the movie illustrates, Sully was no novice, he had been flying his whole life and was a very disciplined man. Generally speaking, people that the Lord uses in situations like this, are people that He’s been preparing for a long time…that have developed patterns and habits that most would consider insignificant or unimportant that lead to making the right call in the right

moment.

The real point of drama in the film is the investigation, and of course the government sucks…so I was happy to see them portrayed as the bad guys, kinda…they were trying to stack the deck in their favor, surprise – surprise…either way, it was satisfying to see that it worked for Sully at the end of the movie.

Man Test

Does this movie pass the man test…that is, can I tell my man friends I watched this movie

without feeling moderately gay? Yes, kinda…it’s not really a dude movie…the plane doesn’t even blow up, which would have been horrible, but it’s a movie and I want my money’s worth. But it was based on a true story about something that was truly a blessing from God, so that’s really cool, and it was directed by Clint Eastwood, who has a PhD in dudeness. So maybe, you watch it, but just don’t tell anyone, and if you’re forced to divulge that you did, in fact, watch this movie, you can do so without felling gay.

Christian Worldview

What about Christian Worldview? This is a not “Christian” movie, and I know absolutely

nothing about Sully in real life. However, the real event of landing that plane in the Hudson after losing both engines in the middle of January without losing any of the passengers was truly a blessing from the Lord and you would have to be a fool not to acknowledge it as such.

Also, just outside of the event itself. There are a few things that Christians can take away from this film. The first, was the discipline of Sully. They portrayed him as a very self-disciplined man, focused on his job and his duty. Most Christians, want to be used by God, but they think that means a having a mountain top moment…They are quick to forget that God kept Moses in the wilderness for forty years to learn how to do life in the wilderness so that he would then be equipped to be used by God to lead His people in the wilderness.

Paul tells Timothy that we should be like the farmer the athlete and soldier…When we think of those vocations we think of the harvest, the games and the war…but all three of those vocations are made up of diligent, monotonous, repetitive tasks that you have to be disciplined enough to perform over and over again to prepare you for the harvest, the games and the war.

Since, we’re friends by now, I’m just going to be very honest…most really never get the mountain top moment, not because God isn’t a great and awesome God, but because most don’t have the stamina to walk up the mountain.

Another take away is that if you really want to do something (“great”)…it’s going to come at a price, and you have to be willing to pay it when the moment comes up. Which means the best way to prepare yourself for that is to regularly do hard things when the cost is much lower.

And lastly, If the Lord ever uses you in any way for anything, you’re going to face opposition and nay sayers, and people that will tell you “coulda – shoulda – woulda” type thing – which of course, they would do it better. The people who never really do anything, but know exactly how to do the very thing that it is that you are doing, because Jesus loves you and they have a wonderful plan for your life – these people suck! In the end, Who cares…work hard, be diligent and trust the Lord. To quote that great theologian, Taylor Swift, Haters gonna hate!

Overall I give this movie a B- …it was good, the directing and acting were good, I don’t regret watching it in anyway, but I probably will never watch it again, and there really wasn’t much to it.

B-