Sully follows the story of Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who saved 155 lives by executing forced water landing on the Hudson River. Sully tells a very human story, showing how split second decisions can endanger lives and people can judge you harshly on something that lasted 208 seconds.

On January 15, 2009, 100 seconds after take off, pilots Captain Chesley Sulelenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles safely glided the plane into the river after a bird caused both engines to fail. The movie also explores the aftermath and the intense investigation performed by the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board).

Sullenberger had flown for over 40 years before the incident at the time. Tom Hanks delivered a great performance as Sullenberger. Aaron Eckhart serves as a bit of comedy relief as he plays Jeff Skiles. Laura Linney as Lorraine Sullenberger had a stand out performance too. Sully was directed by the legendary Clint Eastwood and written by Todd Komarnicki and based off the book by Sully himself.

This is also Eastwood’s shortest film to date at one hour and thirty-six minutes. The cinematography was very stark and smooth. Clint directed it in such a great way that you can feel the intensity as a bird strike occurs and both engines are lost. The intensity peaked as they hit the water and then cut to another scene of Sully on the phone with his wife.

The editing was great in this film too, as it doesn’t show the whole plane scene until the very end leaving the audience in suspense. It was apparent that the passengers even had emotional connections, and that added an emotional touch.

Clint Eastwood has had a film career spanning 6 decades and he is still making movies at the age of 86 it is a surprise to me that one of the greats still works today. I give Sully a 9.4/10.