Excellent - but the documentary is better than the movie

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2017)

Best film I've seen this year. More of a dramatised documentary than a movie, but more powerful because it represents a true story. Real-life heroes don't wear capes, they aren't out for revenge or tortured souls .... they're often just quiet, modest, professional people who do their jobs really well, and keep their calm when >95% of us would crap ourselves. In the words of his wife, Capt Chesley Sullenberger "hates surprises and always plans ahead". The documentary about Sully is arguably more interesting than the rather contrived court-room drama of the investigation which dominates the film. In the real world, calm heroics come at a price. Sullenberger suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, lost 13 pounds in two days after his miracle landing on water, and loathed the attention. If you get the DVD, watch the feature documentary - it's as good as the film (no disrespect to Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks, their movie is excellent). The interesting thing is - there's a world full of Sullys, and 99.99% of them will never be recognised - but they just do their best anyway. In Sully's case, he gave New York good news, involving a plane - and that really was a miracle.