Fantastic job by Clint Eastwood

Rating: 8/10 (20 February 2017)

Before watching the film I wasn't sure if Clint Eastwood would pull it off. The story he had to put on screen wasn't really full of exciting twists, mystery or adventures - there's only so much to tell. To my amazement it was brilliantly done in every department - great script and directing, with Tom Hanks doing a really believable and excellent job. I couldn't find fault with this film apart from the story itself - not that it's uninteresting or unheroic but solely as a material for a movie. Clint Eastwood got the best he could out of it.
A normal approach would be to unveil the story as it happened: start with the accident and follow with the investigation. I was afraid it would be a bit too predictable and therefore uninteresting. Instead, the creators used the only possible approach to make this interesting - a non-linear story-telling. They take us on a journey going back and forth in time during and after the accident and even a couple of quick flashbacks into pilot's earlier years as a military pilot and his adolescence years as a young pilot trainee, into the emotional life of the man.
The film deals with more that just the action itself (although that is brilliantly done) but with the human aspect, with our ability to be honest and straightforward when we "have to do our job" and act on something that is not prescribed by the protocols and procedures (exactly what the captain has done) - in this case the investigators who, being fully aware the pilot did something extraordinary and worthy of praise, are bent on accusing him of making a dreadful mistake and endangering human lives, totally forgetting about the human aspect - something that no computer or protocol they rely on can ever predict, calculate or evaluate. A wonderful piece of work from a professional. Highly recommended.