Sully Soars while Plane Performs a Daring Water Landing

Rating: 9/10 (3 October 2016)

Tom Hanks is in top form and gives his best performance since Cast Away (2000). After playing a man on the 105th floor of the WTC on Sep 11, 2001 in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011), he plays a captain of a doomed double-engine failure plane on January 15th, 2009 in NYC. Writing, editing and emotional directing crafts the portrait of this modern day modest hero with bravo.
The storytelling choices, non-chronological order, details, scenes and people portrayed all add the the tension and depth of this fascinating, and familiar to some, story. Laura Linney who is always seen only on the phone gives a credible (incredible!) performance, while Aaron Eckhart and his co-pilot character are well utilized.
Clint Eastwood ultimately nails it with the right choice of music he also contributes to, like in low-key but grandiose Gran Torino (2008), along with the flashbacks-flashforwards and figments of Sully's imagination to tell the story and inner feelings the best way, and the sheer thrill of a serious and spectacular life and death situation.
Everything unfolds perfectly, ends on a high and comical note and feels like hours because of its intensity instead of the taut 96 minutes in actuality, like the only 24 minutes rescue. Thirteen years after the acclaimed Mystic River (2003), Eastwood and "Sully" safely and improbably land on the river.
Like Sully who thanks his co-pilot and crew, the passengers and first respondents for this amazing team effort rescue, Eastwood has many people on his team to thank, including long time contributor but first time real lead editor Blu Murray, for all putting in the pieces together to this cinematic masterpiece.