“Sully” marks the beginning of the wave of award-worthy films that will be coming out within the next few months. So many films fight for a release in December to be fresh in the minds of Oscar voters.

For this reason, it is important that if your film comes out earlier, you need it to be memorable, and “Sully” hopefully will be. With a great performance from Tom Hanks and strong direction from Clint Eastwood, “Sully” should be talked about when the award season kicks off.

“Sully” is about Pilot Captain, Chesley Sullenberger, known for the ‘Miracle on the Hudson.’ For those unfamiliar with the event, on Jan. 15, 2009, Captain Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles safely landed a US Airways flight in the Hudson River after many birds took out the plane’s engines. Due to the bird strikes, both of the plane’s engines failed and the plane had to take an emergency landing in the Hudson River.

The plane was leaving the LaGuardia Airport in New York and was intended to land at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Despite having just left LaGuardia Airport when the bird strikes occurred, Captain Sullenberger was unable to return to LaGuardia because the engine damage was far too severe.

Captain Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles managed to land safely in the Hudson River without any casualties. The story of the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ was a very popular news topic in 2009 and many hailed Captain Sullenberger as a hero.

Even though Sully was heavily loved across the United States for his astonishing landing, him and First Officer Skiles were still comprehensively investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. The film chronicles the events that happened before the plane took off, the landing, and the NTSB investigation that followed.

The film has an excellent narrative structure. The movie cuts back and forth from the present (during all of the press following the landing), the past (before and during the plane crash), and the distant past (Sully as a young man). “Sully” moves back and forth between these timelines with ease. The film never drags and is exciting from start to finish.

Another intriguing aspect of “Sully” is its choice to give the audience multiple point-of-views of the plane landing. The audience experiences the landing through the eyes of many different people nearby and also from inside the plane. This choice allows the audience to understand the emotions that several people were going through when the “Miracle on the Hudson” occurred.

“Sully” is Clint Eastwood’s best film since “Gran Torino.” When movies are based on real events, especially ones that occurred so recently, there are no surprises. With this in mind, it is important to give Eastwood immense credit for keeping people on the edge of their seats despite already knowing the outcome. The film is thrilling from start to finish.

It’s very fair to say that Tom Hanks is always good, but his performance in “Sully” stands out. His performance throughout this film feels more lively and genuine than his performances in his past few films. Hanks will surely be a front-runner for the Best Actor Oscar this year.

“Sully” is sure to be a strong contender this award season. Go see it!

8.5/10.0