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By Mack Doebler, Online Editor

On Jan. 15, 2009, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger landed U.S Airways flight 1549 with First Officer Jeff Skiles on the Hudson River.  Now, in the year 2016, this feat of human action is the focus of a major motion picture. So does the movie stack up to the legacy and heroism of the day?

“Sully” begins in a nightmare: a parallel reality existing only within a dream where Sullenberger did not successfully complete the water landing on the Hudson. The scene is an abrupt welcome to the confusing and overwhelming world of protagonist Sully (Tom Hanks). After his emergency landing with zero casualties, he has become a national icon as well as a man under investigation.

Sully’s superiors are tasked with determining whether he could have successfully returned to a nearby airport without endangering any of the passengers on board. In short, they are trying to see if Sully did the right thing. His wings are at stake.

The film makes it pretty clear that flying has been, as Sully puts it, his whole life. Viewers are often pulled into flashbacks of previous flights, ranging from his high school days to those of as a young adult flying for the Air Force. The further along the movie gets, more is revealed about what really happened on Jan. 15, 2009. This leads me to the hands-down best part of the movie.

The segment depicting the water landing and the response teams who saved the passengers from the freezing water is nothing short of an open love letter to first responders. The shots are tight and not disorienting, the score is subtle but felt, and the story is far more compelling than most films on the silver screen right now. This segment plays out with anticipation and really stands out above anything else the movie delivers, which is not to say that the rest of the film is not entertaining.

One of the best parts of “Sully” is the musical score accompanying it. There is this leitmotif of sorts that starts on the lowest octave of an acoustic piano and keys a few notes on its way up to the highest notes. At first it almost mimics taking flight with its rising intervals, but as it repeats with its slow tempo, the feeling of flight is replaced with long, drawn-out confusion. It’s the same type of subtle but thought out film music that I haven’t seen since last year’s “The Revenant.”

Mood and symbolism is something this movie does very well. Early on, there is a scene with Sully sitting in his hotel bathroom as steam fills every white shiny corner. He is the focus of the shot with the steam surrounding him, almost overtaking him. It’s well composed, balanced and represents the mental battle that Sully faces: the battle of trying to determine if he really did do the right thing despite his newly bestowed hero status.

Aside from the score, the first responders sequence and a small handful of brilliant shots the rest of the movie is nothing groundbreaking. The shots are good but usually aren’t artsy or breathtaking like other movies we’ve seen recently. What really shines through the duration of the film, as opposed to specific moments, is the writing.

The story is already fascinating and recent, which can be dangerous terrain to traverse as a writer. The staff can rest easy, however, because the story doesn’t come off as over dramatic, boring or even lazy. The story is presented well and I became pretty invested.

So, what could “Sully” have done wrong?

I really only have one major complaint with this movie, and it involves the spaced-out and awkward scenes between Sully and his wife. The actress playing Mrs. Sullenberger always seemed overly stressed. Her performance felt disingenuous and some of the conversations they had didn’t seem to hold any relevance. Between the distant Sully on one end of the line and the overly dramatic wife on the other, it continued to get more and more awkward.

Other than that, there isn’t really anything else I could see as a flaw in this movie.

It is exciting and creates a mood that surrounds the viewer, drawing them deeper into the plot. The score is simple, subtle and everything it needs to be while the cinematography is practiced but well done. If the folks at Warner Brothers took off to make a great film, they definitely stuck the landing.

Sully has a runtime of 96 minutes and is rated PG-13.  It is currently showing at R/C Kill Devil Hills Movies 10. Click here to see when you can fly in to see it.

Senior Mack Doebler can be reached at doeblerma0930@daretolearn.org.