Fact is less interesting than Fiction

Rating: 6/10 (10 February 2017)

"Spoilers" in this review.
I put the word spoilers in quotes for two reasons. First, of course, we all know about this high profile incident and the outcome. Second, the other 'revelation' that occurs in the third act never actually occurred in reality. The filmmakers explained when the movie came out that because there was no controversy to wrap the story around, they made one up. This kind of reminds me of my reaction to "Argo". One reason why the audience will invest their time into a movie is knowing that the stakes are real. "Sully" shows that sometimes fact is not as exciting as fiction. So I have the same reaction to "Argo", which is "why am I watching a fake story?" In this case you get into groan territory as Sully faces a review board. Characters playing aviation officials look accusatory as they confront him with the idea he should have tried to land the plane at a runway close by. All be damned that he successfully saved all the passengers, he should have saved the plane!
Spoiler
Sully acts like John Wayne and publicly shames all the officials as he points out that human reaction time was not factored in. The hang dog reaction on the officials faces is so over-the-top it feels like a farce. This "oh we feel so terrible, let me lick your toes" response felt just dumb.
Spoiler finished
Eastwood handled the material otherwise very appropriately. Finding momentum by reviewing the moment via flight control and passengers midway through the film (instead having it as the finale) helped feed the story. Otherwise, we all know that the pilot was a hero, had no dark secrets, and was completely exonerated. Compare that to the Academy nominated "Flight". This fictional story was wrapped around a hero pilot that had dark secrets. That fictional story also allowed for a more dramatic crash landing. To 'sully' the material with any fictional personal problems or what not (wife can't deal with, other crew members think the captain is taking all the credit) would have turned this fact-based movie into something it wasn't. Sully the character is a straight arrow, nothing to hide. Nothing terribly exciting either. Thankfully Eastwood also knows the limitations of the material, with the film clocking in at a thankful 96 minutes.
I suppose the big draw to see this on the big screen was to watch the special effects sequences of the miraculous water landing. I chose to wait until the DVD came out because I felt I might not be invested in this movie beyond the special effects. Tom Hanks is always charismatic, even more his sidekick Aaron Eckhart (proudly sporting a 70's moustache). His co-pilot character is allowed to be more engaging. I expect my reaction if I saw this in a theatre would be neutral, not a waste of money but not an award winner.
I usually declare "wait for the DVD", however I am writing this review long after the big screen release, and the new phrase needs to change to "wait for DVD/On Demand" for this day and age.