The Best Biopics Tom Hanks Has Ever Been In

An airplane collides with a flock of birds, has to make a crash landing, and no one gets seriously hurt. That sounds like the stuff of comedy or cartoons. Indeed, comics got plenty of mileage out of the fateful January 2009 flight of an Airbus A320 under Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger — see Norm Macdonald’s bit on “Conan.” A proper biopic, however, couldn’t be so glib, and couldn’t be solely about the crash. 2016’s “Sully” devotes a good chunk of its 96-minute run time to the aftermath of the incident, with Tom Hanks’ Sullenberger dealing with media attention and an investigation into how he handled the crash.

According to Variety, the real Sullenberger, and his flight crew and passengers from that day, were well pleased with how Hanks and director Clint Eastwood approached the story. Hanks and Sullenberger both wished that the film would speak to the best aspects of America, its can-do optimism, and the ability of its institutions to work properly. Sullenberger also appreciated Eastwood’s attention to detail; as minor a mistake as his Air Force academy ring being yellow gold instead of white gold was subject to a post-production fix (per USA Today).

A rare objection to “Sully” came from the investigators responsible for looking into Sullenberger’s actions, who objected to being portrayed more like prosecutors, according to PBS. Sullenberger shared their concerns with the script; while he conceded that it made for neater storytelling, but successfully lobbied to have the investigators’ names unspoken.

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