Eastwood and Hanks...Perfect Together

Rating: 10/10 (10 September 2016)

Have to admit: I was prepared to be cynical and critical about this film, mainly because of my past revulsion to Hollywood's usual abysmally-moronic treatment of commercial aviation (example: a computer-generated MD-80 defying the principles of aerodynamics and flying inverted in that awful "Flight" !).
As a former Contributing Editor for the ORIGINAL "Airways" magazine (when it was still run by Founding Editor/Publisher John Wegg), I thought I knew a lot about the topic, as I wrote that magazine's cover feature-story about the "Miracle on the Hudson" incident (it was NEVER a crash).
After the first 5 minutes I became a TOTAL BELIEVER in this film, as I sat there, mouth agape and eyes tearing up at HOW WELL Director Eastwood, star Tom Hanks, and everyone else created AN EXCELLENT AND COMPLEX FILM.
Why "complex"? Because it is NOT JUST the water-landing story, but also:
1. the technical perfection of the film, making the flying sequences and Air Traffic Control sequences spot-on accurate (probably thanks to a lot of technical advisers);
2. the courtroom-drama scenario of the NTSB hearings where Sully's and First Officer Skiles's careers could have been destroyed had they been found guilty of making a bad decision, based upon European airplane manufacturer Airbus's self-serving inaccurate computer simulations;
3. AND, for this proud Manhattanite, the wonderful portrayal of how the NYC "first responders" (especially the crews of the New York Waterways ferries, which were first to reach the floating airliner) reacted to the incident and kept everyone safe.
No one has ever questioned Tom Hanks's acting nor Clint Eastwood's directing, but, as far as this reviewer is concerned, their work in this film is not only among their best, but is definitely Oscar-worthy.