Great story, decent movie

Rating: 6/10 (13 May 2017)

I was living in Australia when I watched this story, soon after it had happened. It was all over the news. I remember, still today, Sully's apparent calmness when talking about the event. This is one of those stories that one believes to be fiction and part of a feel-good Christmas film, but it was real, it was great, it warmed my heart, and it renewed my respect for pilots, who certainly are not just cool dudes in pretty uniforms.
Knowing the end of the story is a tricky thing for a film that is not documentary and intends to build tension and interest in the viewer. Eastwood achieved that in different ways: 1-by just playing a non-linear story that does go back and forward in time; 2-by making us see Sully behind doors (his personal background with aviation, his emotional self with PSD after the events on the Hudson unfolded, his worries about his family future); 3-by creating a set of villains (in this case the NTSB investigators), and 4-by creating a situation that builds tension (the investigation on whether Sully's act of heroism was on the contrary a lack of judgment.
To me, the main problem with the film is not what is in the film, but with what's not there. Sully is based on Captain Sullenberg's own memoir and, therefore, we see just one color. I would have loved knowing more about the co-pilot and his PDS, of which he also suffered, get to know some of the passengers flying on the film, seeing more about Sully's daughters' reaction to the events, seeing more details about the NTSB behind-doors investigation going on, and building a bit of more tension around that.
The acting is good overall, especially on Hanks' part, who is able to convey Sully's real mix of his usual external calmness and the inner turmoil that he experienced after the event. I also liked Eckhart as his co-pilot,and Linney as his wife.
I loved the special effects that reproduce the events on the Hudson as the landing on the river looks totally real not just special effects.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable feel-good movie and story. Yet, the events being so well-documented and internationally well known, and so close in time, it is difficult to get overly wowed by a story that was, indeed, wow.