Sully lands in theaters

Tom+Hanks+stars+as+Captain+Sullenberger

Tom Hanks stars as Captain Sullenberger

Jocelyn Burns

Picking a movie about a plane crash on the weekend of 9/11 may not sound like a good idea, but after seeing “Sully,” it was a reminder about ordinary people doing heroic things. The film tells the true story of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, portrayed by Tom Hanks and Jeffery Skiles, played by Arron Eckhart, who are the pilots of US Airways Flight 1549 departing from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

Sully Stars
Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart star in “Sully”

The flight goes downhill quickly when the plane hits a flock of geese that destroys both engines. There is only one option–land on the Hudson River. The movie takes you through the emotional confrontation between Sully and, what was at the time, US Airways.

Hanks renders Sully with the perfect amount of emotion. He is shown as a calm, cool, collected man who was just doing his job. You can see the worry in his and Skiles eyes as the lawyers doubt them. Both of these characters were beautifully depicted by the actors. Their reactions keep you wondering about the outcome even though the film depicts actual events.

The airlines believed that if the flight tried to make it back to the airport after the bird strike, they could have made it. This would have saved the airline a great deal of money–instead of landing on the river and wrecking the plane. As if this isn’t enough stress, the media on every news report asks people in New York City if he is a fraud or a hero.

The film takes the audience on a journey leading up to the accident by putting them in the place of the passengers. It is an interesting point of view because it shows everyday people boarding the plane, tells their stories of why they were going on the flight and shares their journey through the crash landing. It gives the viewer a feeling that anyone could have been on the plane, even themselves, which invokes emotions more than if it looked only at the pilot’s side of events.

“Sully” was an intense journey that left you questioning if you ever wanted to fly in a plane again. It was compelling and kept you wondering what would be next. The graphics were well done and authentic. As a teen that doesn’t remember this near tragedy from 2009, I now feel like I knew what happened. “Sully” was informative and also extremely engaging. The tears in my eyes from fear slowly became tears of joy in the end.