His style of film-making is very simple, straight forward and can usually satisfy many demographics.
With this latest release, it looked like it was going to be something similar to American Sniper, i.e. a heroic American story where the director goes a bit too 'flag-wavey' with the content. However, I did have hope that it may be something more than that, as I remember when the story initially broke and like many, I found it to be a great story about your every-day worker becoming a national hero over-night.
As for the film, it was a pretty satisfying watch. The beginning was certainly not what I expected. It was not structured the way I thought it would be, and that certainly got me intrigued from the very beginning. I'm glad they did this, as I felt doing the events in chronological order might have been less compelling, as it would have been too safe, even by Eastwood's standards.
As I said before, it is a really interesting story. But I can't believe some of the things that happened after the event that the film shows. Also, the way the incident that we know about is executed onto film is really well. I was fairly tense throughout that segment.
Tom Hanks was in the lead, and you know what to expect with him. His performance is no different. It is another strong and solid performance. It's not going to win him any Oscars. But it will be one that won't be ignored when we look back at his previous work.
It was great to see Aaron Eckhart again in the main supporting role, and in a good film which he is not known for. Yes he was in The Dark Knight, but that was one of the few exceptions.
One performance I have to mention is Mike O'Malley. While it is just a minor role, his character is such a douche, and he plays it so well. His smarmy look instantly gives you that feeling of, "you are not going to like this guy".
There are only minor negatives to speak of. There moments of cheesiness from a few minor characters and in the dialogue as well. Also, there are some overly-patriotic moments that reminded me of American Sniper. But thankfully, there was not as many that would have changed my overall view.
Also if I was being harsh, I could probably say that it felt too safe. I think if the tone was edgier, then this might have been great instead of good.
One part of the film that is both a positive and a negative, is the duration. While I am glad that this was the duration (96 mins) that it probably needed to be. The story still felt stretched at times. But I am glad Eastwood and his team did not extend it to a stupid amount as I know Eastwood films can usually go over 2 hours.
While a lot was not exceptional, everything is done well. Eastwood's direction I felt gave us story that he wanted to tell. Hanks continues to show he is one of the best actors of all-time and his chemistry with Eckhart is one of the films strongest components.
I managed to see this in IMAX, and it is pretty good in that format. It is worth your money, especially when it was filmed entirely in IMAX, rather retro-fitted after initial filming.
Rating: 7/10
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