Tom Hanks explores the
drama and trauma of being a hero in 'Sully'
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[September 08, 2016]
By Piya Sinha-Roy
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -
When a US Airways pilot landed a damaged plane in the
Hudson River in the middle of winter, saving all 155
people on board, he was immediately hailed a hero - but
even heroes can be crumbling on the inside.
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"Sully," directed by Clint Eastwood and out in theaters on
Friday, follows the immediate aftermath of the extraordinary
events on Jan. 15, 2009 that saw Captain Chesley "Sully"
Sullenberger land the plane on the Hudson after the Airbus
A320-214's two engines were destroyed by a flock of birds.
Following the landing, Sully, played by Tom Hanks, and his
co-pilot Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart) faced a lengthy National
Transportation Safety Board investigation, which tried to
determine whether Sully and Skiles had made an error and thus,
put both their long-standing reputations at risk.
The film spotlights the post-traumatic stress disorder that
Sully faces as the world around him hails him as a hero. He
struggles through vivid nightmares reliving different versions
of the event where the plane crashes into New York buildings, an
image that brings to mind the tragedy of 9/11.
While Sullenberger's actions were extraordinary, Hanks told
Reuters that the captain's mental anguish throughout the hearing
was "a human experience that a lot of people find relatable,
because all of us at some point have been woken up by a dream
that has bothered us."
Sullenberger in turn praised Hanks' portrayal, saying "it's
amazing how good he is at his craft and how he's able to in very
subtle ways, to do things, say things, behave in such a way that
it seems like me."
The film examines the sequence of events that led Sully and
Skiles to land the plane on the Hudson with numerous variations,
each one allowing the audience to "learn something new" about
the flight, Hanks said.
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"What you get from the recreations we did is how many people were
involved in the aftermath, but also how specific it did come down to
those two guys in the cockpit," the Oscar winner said.
Eckhart said Eastwood, a famed actor and Academy Award-winning
director, brought a level of experience to the film that echoed both
Sully's experience as a pilot and Hanks' experience as an actor - a
tale of a hero told by seasoned veterans in the industry.
"Everybody looks at Clint throughout his movie career as this hero.
He's this man to us and that's what Sully (is)," Eckhart said. "He's
a born leader; he has that aura about him."
(This version of the story has been filed again to fix typos in
plane in fourth paragraph, and in Sullenberger in fifth paragraph)
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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