Professionally made account of a mind-blowing story

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2017)

Sully (2016)
What a story! That's all Clint Eastwood needed in this case to make a compelling movie.
Of course, we all know the ending to the crash part of things. And we think we know what happens to the other plot, the investigation of the crash. So this is a movie without surprises, and is mostly about recreating the events in a moving way.
Done.
Kudos also go to Tom Hanks, who pulls of a nuanced version of the pilot that seems convincing and sympathetic. A star playing a hero.
The re-creation of the crash itself, and of the simulations afterward, are also first rate stuffâ€”gripping, scary stuff.
All of this said, it's also true that this is a formula movie. It does little to get to actual depths or surprises. It includes a couple of short dream sequences that are manipulative (for those of us who remember 9/11, at least). It concludes with a two-minute wrap up where everyone says golly and a huge room full of people jot a few things onto pads of paper. And with a very funny joke, which ends the movie with a laugh.
Could more have been done? Of course. But then it wouldn't have been a simple re- presentation of the facts. It would have been a creative, original work of art, which this is not.
But it's one heck of a story.