Sully — Clint Eastwood’s new film starring Tom Hanks as Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a malfunctioning plane carrying 155 passengers in the Hudson River — comes in at 96 minutes. (Per our own Mike Ryan’s review, that’s about 60 minutes too long). One of the moments that might have been cut involves planes crashing into Manhattan skyscrapers. But at the New York premiere last night, only a few days before the 15th anniversary of September 11, 2001, Eastwood defended the scene. “It’s just a bad dream sequence, and what could have happened if he didn’t make the right decision,” he said. “The spirit it gave back the city, even though it was a tragic loss of a plane, there was no tragic loss of life.”
Todd Komarnicki, who wrote the script, added that Sully’s “miracle” is the “inverted story of 9/11,” and the plane crash scene allows Americans, and in particular New Yorkers, to “reclaim that narrative. That narrative was laid on us by people who are enemies of our country; this is a story of heroism in New York City.” This is not, in other words, a story for the Pussy Generation.
As for the 9/11 anniversary weekend release, “It’s totally coincidental,” Komarnicki said, “because of limited IMAX screens, [there’s no] room in the summer, and Christmas is all Star Wars.” I bet Sully could make the Kessel Run in less than eleven parsecs.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)
