Eastwood and Hanks make this a movie to raise the spirits

Rating: Null/10 (8 December 2016)

On 15 January 2009, Captain Chesley B "Sully" Sullenberger III had to take over the controls of US Airways flight 1549 when when a flock of Canada geese hit his Airbus 320 and knocked out both engines. The aircraft had only just taken off from New York's La Guardia airport and he judged that he did not have enough altitude to return to La Guardia or reach nearby Teterboro and decided to land on the freezing waters of the Hudson River. All 155 passengers and crew survived. Between the engines dying and the splashdown on the Hudson, there were just 3 minutes and 32 seconds. How doe one make a film about such a short period of time when the outcome was known to the world at the time?
Well, master craftsman Clint Eastwood (now in his mid 80s), who produced and directed, has done it - and extremely well - by deploying three techniques. First, he revisits those few minutes again and again, showing different perspectives, including a nightmare and simulation exercises, and each time the tension is almost paralysing. Second, he examines the subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board which questioned Sully's decision - something I had not appreciated until the publicity for the film. Third, he has the perfect casting of Tom Hanks as Sully who is totally credible as the eponymous and heroic pilot.
Clever visual effects and superb sound put the viewer right into the action. But, if there is any need to remind you that this actually happened, the credits are enlivened with photographs of the aircraft on the river, with passengers stretched out along both wings, and a clip of Sully, his wife and some of the passengers having an emotional reunion. Over his long career, Eastwood has had a recurrent theme of the lone hero acting without the full support of authority - all the way from "Dirty Harry" to "American Sniper" - and, in that vein, a criticism that one unfortunately has to make of "Sully" is that it unfairly represents the NTSB officials as hostile to the pilots rather than doing a professional job designed to learn lessons and make recommendations.
For aviation buffs, there is some fascinating detail about cockpit procedures, air traffic control, and flight simulations. Plus the NTSB inquiry shows the complexity of modern aviation (the film suggests that the hearings followed hard on the incident but it was a process that in reality took some 15 months). A interesting note: Sully had never flown before with his co-pilot Jeff Skiles (ably played by Aaron Eckhart). Finally, although this is a wonderfully feel-good movie for the viewer, we should remember that most of those involved - including Sullenberger - suffered serious post-traumatic stress disorder.