THE UNTOLD STORY BEHIND THE MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON.Â
After depicting a controversial ”hero” in American Sniper (2014), Clint Eastwood crafted another watchable portrait of a real-life man who struggled with his experiences of an intense life-and-death situation. In 2009, captain Sullenberger made an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York City, instantly becoming a media sensation; the film follows the subsequent investigation as Sully’s decisions are questioned. Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart are very solid as the two men in the cockpit; watching them handle a potentially disastrous event is credible and exciting. The story is told in deliberately slow fashion, with good visual effects that serve the film well.
2016-U.S. 96 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Clint Eastwood, Frank Marshall, Tim Moore, Allyn Stewart. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Screenplay: Todd Komarnicki. Book: ”Highest Duty” (Chesley Sullenberger, Jeffrey Zaslow). Cast: Tom Hanks (Chesley ”Sully” Sullenberger), Aaron Eckhart (Jeff Skiles), Laura Linney (Lorraine Sullenberger), Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Ann Cusack… Katie Couric.
Trivia: The real-life Sullenberger, his crew and the passengers of flight 1549 appear at a reunion during the end credits.
Last word: “I talked to Jeff on the phone and he explained everything that was going on mentally and physically with him and how he dealt with it. I think the most interesting thing that people want to know is what were you thinking while this was happening, and they didn’t have time to think. They just had time to react and rely on their training.” (Eckhart, Yahoo)
