Intricate Glimpse Into Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2016)

I've heard this airline captain's story through the news back in 2009 during one of my college classes at the time, but had no idea a film based on those events was created. Upon watching every minute of it, I'm now able to see what made Captain Sullenberger a hero to his passengers and those who know him personally.
The plot revolves around his heroic efforts as he and his First Officer Jeffrey Skiles navigated their US Airways plane right into the Hudson River as a last ditch of effort after their plane had collided with Canadian Geese that flew right into the plane's engines. Despite such actions that saved their lives, there was also debate on the circumstance on what could've happened or what would've been better than Sully himself had explained.
Tom Hanks' portrayal of the renowned captain was a pretty impressive performance. Instead of just merely trying to emulate the real-life airline captain's experiences on screen, he managed to capture the angst and personal struggles Sully had faced following from that traumatic event. The board hearing scenes had so much to talk about that it left me further curious on what made these events run into motion. For example, when using flight simulators as to project what happened that day and combining it with Sully's recollections via PTSD visions, it's like placing ourselves into his shoes step-by-step. Director Clint Eastwood followed up well from his previous Oscar-nominated film American Sniper by cranking out a story that focuses on how one man who doesn't see himself as a glorified hero, but a man who did anything a professional pilot would do by taking such incredible risks to save the lives of himself and those aboard. For a biographical drama that touches on the mystery and intrigue, this is a must-watch and is sure to hit various accolades.