When I recall “Apollo 13” (1995), I envision a scene where Cmdr. Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) gazes out the window of his space capsule at a lunar surface he longs to touch but can’t due to his wounded ship. When I go back and re-watch the film, the scene is shorter and less poignant. As a filmmaker, Ron Howard has a way of taking things that happened and making them seem more like we want to remember (or imagine). It’s a gift and a curse, because Howard is snickered at by some who live a more ironic life. Pity them.
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“Radio Flyer” (1992) is a heartwarming tale of child abuse and a possible suicide. Even better, it’s narrated by a dad who is telling this heartwarming tale to his own kids. Even better still is that the dad is Tom Hanks. Who thought this was a good idea? The film is filtered through a wistful haze of sepia-toned memories, supported by a fanciful musical score. Ohhh, so it’s a fairytale story of child abuse and a possible suicide. That makes it OK. The only positive is the abused young boy who (maybe) commits suicide grows up to be Frodo Baggins.
Based on his performance in “Sully” (2016), I nominate Aaron Eckhart for Best Supporting Mustache. In today’s age of media oversaturation, this is another one of those based-on-a-true-story films in which everyone is already super familiar with the “true story.” So how do you create drama? Play up Capt. Sullenberger’s wife, make the National Transportation Safety Board dude extra dicky (the birds weren’t enough of an antagonist), and plow a buncha money into special effects. Also, hope the audience can calibrate its expectations and lose itself in the re-creation of one of the all-time greatest airplane landings. Worked for me.
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