With Reality Like This, Who Needs Fiction!

Rating: 10/10 (15 September 2016)

Of course, I knew of The Miracle on the Hudson and of it's hero, Sully, but not of the subsequent half-baked governmental finger-pointing this movie so skillfully portrays.
Because the investigation was conducted-in/released-to the public, I assume the climatic scene toward the end of the movie - in which Sully himself a crash investigator, publicly exposes the flaw in the board's analysis which wrongly faulted him with an error in judgment - was accurately portrayed. If it was, Sully's calm restraint and eloquence in his own defense has earned even more of my respect and admiration for him.
Other personal aspects of the miraculous event are explored and portrayed in a well-balanced non-sappy manner: the immediate media crush on Sully and his family that resulted; his instant popularity; the mental trauma that resulted in it's aftermath; the importance of having a good co-pilot and crew; the steady, modest and grounded manor of our hero; and of course, the gratitude of the survivors.
A jazz pianist himself, the understated Eastwood-composed musical score added just the right mood at the right times; and the gifted Hanks again showed us why he earns these types of important and iconic roles.
It's rare for a film to inform, entertain, and inspire or uplift all at the same time; but the fine screenplay, acting, and directorial choices of this one - not the least of which is the as-the-credits-roll brief appearance of real-life Sully and some of the actual water-landing (not crash!) survivors all reunited along side the actual plane (now in a museum) - landed them all!