A Masterclass in how to make a movie

Rating: 9/10 (11 September 2016)

Sully is not a typical bio pic, and sets a new gold standard for how to make a movie that is thoughtful, touching, and overall about the nature of what it means to be a hero. I actually think this is one of Eastwood's best directed movies, along side Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River in the 21st century phase of his career.
There are interesting influences that have been seeping in from a couple of Asian directors: Zhang's Hero which approaches this same topic albeit in a different century and with more extravagant visuals, Ozu for the long, patient camera takes as well as Kurosawa for the Rashomon type story that takes place. "paintent" is the key word here, as many of the films detractors have said the movie is "slow". Notice how each flashback tells more, and more of the story, much like how Rashomon tells the story from different perspectives. Flashback are used as suspense devices, and Eastwood really crafts the picture in way that even though you think your are watching the same scene (birds!) new information is revealed every time which makes it entertaining. And entertaining is not a bad word.
For a movie touted as a big studio movie about a real life character, and unlike J. Edgar which I would say is about a "B" quality movie though well done biopic, I feel like Sully deserves an the highest rating possible because of the multiple nuances used, and like you said Hanks performance as he disappears into a role unlike any other he has ever had (compared to Captain Phillips, which to me was just Hanks doing Hanks). Hanks deserves an Oscar nomination at least, and a win at best. Eastwood makes movies about JUSTICE as a key theme, where 'what is right is right' and boy does he get his opinions on that across in this film (which also ties it to previous masterpieces he has done like Unforgiven, Grand Torino, and High Plains Drifter).
When you know how a movie will turn out it is a challenge to make it entertaining and new to the audience, and Eastwood found a way to do that with several devices and ideas (the court hearings, Sully's jogs and visits to bars around town, his nightmares which echo the 9/11 attacks). Seeing this film on 9/11 (which was an accident really) had a profound effect one as a well. It left me with just enough tears after it is over. Sully is a movie I would recommend for everyone to see at some point in their lives, as it is one of the best movies ever made on the topic of a true life hero, who always includes others in his thoughts and refuses to take credit for his heroic acts (another Jimmy Stewart-Mr. Smith goes to Washington parallel for Hanks).