On paper, the idea of a movie about Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger seems kind of obvious. He’s the guy who pulled off an emergency water landing in the Hudson River when the engines failed on his airliner, saving the lives of everyone on board, and an easy movie trying to cash in on Sullenberger’s hero status would probably put that event at the film’s climax. Surprisingly, though, this trailer for Clint Eastwood’s Sully almost makes it seem like the famous emergency landing is just backstory for a character study about Tom Hanks as a guy who suddenly finds himself thrust into the national spotlight. Sullenberger does TV interviews, he gets hugs, and adoring crowds ask about his cape (because he’s a hero, naturally), but while that’s happening he’s being investigated and people are asking if he really needed to crash his plane into the water at all.
Sully also stars Laura Linney, Holt McCallany, Jerry Ferrara, and a gloriously mustachioed Aaron Eckhart. It’ll be in theaters on September 9.