Clint Eastwood's authority as an actor, director and just a person is so strong that it becomes more and more difficult to seriously evaluate or even more critically criticize each of his new movies. This is a legend, real and untainted. It is all the more offensive that Eastwood seems to have finally rested on his laurels with all the modesty possible for such a high position. He no longer takes creative risks and religiously settles down on "good" instead of striving for "excellent." Probably, as in the case of another titan of the industry, Steven Spielberg, in Eastwood's career, the moment came when experimentation fades into the background and there is a smooth, sloping plane of skill, beyond which you cannot really see talent.
Therefore, "Miracle on the Hudson" turned out to be worthy, but by no means an exciting movie. A drama about the incredible landing of a passenger plane on the surface of the Hudson River in 2009 and the debriefing that followed, consists of a mesmerizing fall in three parts, long, longing shots of the lost Tom Hanks as Captain Chesley "Sally" Sullenberg, boring, meticulous proceedings in confined spaces hotel rooms and tearful calls to his wife performed by the always upset Laura Linney. The story of Sally himself, an amazing, hardworking, complex person, is left out of the box, instead giving way to the traditional fear of press attention, interviews and reporters flashing cameras and imposed on bloodthirsty airline officials.
At the end, Sally speaks through Tom Hanks, that these same people in black suits pulled the entire human factor, all the soul out of the flight, but ironically, Eastwood and the scriptwriter of the project Todd Komarniki devastated Sally himself like a deflated balloon. While the scenes of the rescue of all 155 passengers from the plane bring tears of joy rather than despair to the eyes for the first time in a long time, the rest of the action looks at best like any other episode of the procedural series. "Miracle on the Hudson" simultaneously glorifies the miracle itself and lowers the personality of the person responsible for this miracle into a muddy sediment at the very bottom.
Even Tom Hanks' acting skills have nowhere to find themselves in space to the impossibility of empty dialogues. His manners, adopted from the real Sally, create an image behind which, unfortunately, there is no psychological depth. Instead, there is only a set of facts that Komarniki runs over, as if a flock of annoyed producers are rushing after him, shouting about the non-existent movie length. The plot wanders in circles, as if chasing its own tail, in order to eventually come to the obvious simplicity of the moral that the real heroes are those who just do their job well from start to finish.
Applause in this case is not worthy of traditional heroes like Eastwood or Hanks, but supporting actors who really did their job with full dedication. Short, sometimes funny, sometimes cute, sometimes touching moments between the passengers of the plane before and after landing are the gold that had to be grasped initially. Even Aaron Eckhart stands out from the lineup of the stars of the picture, remaining simple, but so strikingly real, funny and sincere.
The catastrophe itself is illuminated by Eastwood from all possible angles: from the captain's cabin, from the aircraft cabin, from the point of view of rescuers, on the control tower monitors, through the eyes of astonished office workers watching the diving black ribbon of engine smoke. Therefore, "Miracle on the Hudson" can be considered, as complete and reliable, as far as is known, a recreation of the events of 2009. Everything from competently placed shots to confidently growing tension was done by Eastwood strictly according to the ruler: no more, no less, neither take away nor add. Only there is nothing groovy about it, nothing that would make you open your mouth in surprise, squeeze the armrests of the chair, or even just simply justify viewing on the big screen of a cinema. The lack of a sincere feeling behind the creation of this movie, his cold prudence down to the numbers of the box office is so obvious that, in principle, he cannot evoke feelings similar to those caused by the best movies of world cinema.
Magic did not happen. ... Miracle on the Hudson is just another second-rate, cold movie, just made, just played, just staged. It is good to watch it sometime for acquaintance with an event or from a strong love for airplanes. Although how can you sleep during a flight now, when you know that successful landings with broken engines are so terrifyingly rare? Be that as it may, there is no miracle in the movie itself.
The Topic of Article: Review of the movie Miracle on the Hudson. Miracles do not happen.
Author: Jake Pinkman |
