daveygandthekeyboard

Did not know what to expect walking in to this one, but I think the film had me at the part where protagonist Cassius Green tells the cashier at the gas station: "40 on 2"...and then drops 40 cents in the tray to "fill" his busted out Toyota. Can't say I haven't been there. Maybe not all the way, but I've at least been part of the way.

Cassius, or "Cash" Green (Lakeith Lee Stanfield) is having a hard time making ends meet, living in his uncle's (Terry Crews) garage while engaged to one Ms. Detroit (Tessa Thompson), who makes her own living as a sign twirler while creating her provocative visual and performance art. Cash ponders the point of it all while fantasizing about an easier life, perhaps even one involving giving up all freedom in exchange for security and a lifetime of crap work in a service called "Worry Free."

Instead, Cash lands a low level telemarketing job at a company called Regal View, where he succeeds beyond his wildest dreams by heeding the advice of a colleague (played by Danny Glover) to use his "white voice." Cash gets reluctantly swept up in an uprising by his fellow employees who want to unionize at Regal View...while he gets promoted to "Power Caller" and gets to move upstairs, where it is "white voice" all the time.

In his new role as Power Caller, Cash winds up being so good at this that it leads to another job. It then takes a dark turn as Cash's personal life and loyalty to friends takes a big hit, and goes even darker when he learns a terrible secret...

Wow. I really liked this. I kinda wish I'd written it myself. It says so much about corporate greed, race relations, politics, the "meaning of it all," the reality of just trying to get by, the intertwining of personal and business, loyalty to friends and loved ones versus survival, the nature of humanity and how excessive greed of giant corporations threaten our very humanity.

It's so funny and messed up and political and odd...it might be about 15 minutes too long, but it's probably the best movie I've seen this year.

For 208 seconds, Sully is saving the lives of all 155 souls aboard Us Airway Flight 1549 when he undertakes an emergency water landing in the Hudson River in January of 2009. He emerges a hero at a time when the U.S economy was in the crapper due largely to the actions of many greedy short-sighted men making horrible decisions with your money, and heroes were at a premium.

The question is: how does this translate to a feature length movie? This can't stretch out two hours. You need drama, you need conflict, so how is this done?

The conflict at the heart of the movie is one that pits humanity versus the computer. Or human error versus those that second guess. Or those that do are criticized by those who don't. For according to computer simulations, done in non-life or death situations, Sully could have managed to land the plane on a runway, at an airport, and not have it become a total loss in the Hudson River. And it is because of this that the authorities investigating the crash (just doing their jobs) try to sully the heroic act of Sully (sorry, bad pun.).

We know how it ends, we know where it's going, and for what it's worth, Captain Chesley Sullenberger is without a doubt a hero of the highest degree. The inspiration that his cool-headedness under enormous pressure provided Americans is incalculable. I just wish the film had been able to communicate that a little better. I wanted there to be a resounding victory, a moment where you could cheer for the good guys. Unfortunately, the closest we came to this was the moment where Sully (played well by Tom Hanks, not my favorite actor but what can you do?) after proving his point about human speed and reaction time, says "DO you need any more tests?"

I miss the days when Tom Hanks was not such a serious actor. But the fact that he plays the part without the audience overly thinking about the fact that this is TOM HANKS is a tribute to his talent. Eckhart does a great job as his co-pilot and Laura Linney is always great, though it would be better if she had more to do than talk to Sully on the phone.

Overall, in terms of airplane related movies, I'd put "Sully" somewhere near "Flight" but not as good as "Flight 93." Or even "Airplane!" But it's still good.