Tom Hanks' latest film "Sully" is playing to rave reviews and based on early box office returns moviegoers seem to share the love.

The Academy Award winning Hanks stars as Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, the US Airways hero pilot who safely landed his disabled and near capacity filled plane on the icy waters of the Hudson River back in early 2015.

Rolling Stone bills the film as an "eye-opener," a biopic that deeply delves into the psyche of a man who still largely refuses to view himself as a hero.

Hanks in Rare Form

For all his effort, Cinema Blend sees another Best Actor nomination in Hanks' future, marveling "we're used to Tom Hanks putting in the work and delivering consistently excellent material throughout his career, his performance as Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is perhaps one of his most impressive."

Throughout the film, director Clint Eastwood makes eye-popping use of a flood of IMAX cameras to bring you as close to flight 1549 as you'd ever really want to be in delivering a stream of highly charged scenes and the otherworldly rescue scenes that follow, which came to be known as the "Miracle on the Hudson."

From the opening credits, Hanks shows you the dimensions of a man still haunted by the thought of what could have been that day if he had not stepped up to be the hero the world largely sees him as, even as National Transportation Safety Board comes to question his somewhat unorthodox methods.

Strong Opening Weekend

"Sully" opened with an opening weekend box-office of $35.5 million, head and shoulder above the competition. The huge 72-hour opening marks the fifth-best September opening of all-time and the Oscar winning Eastwood's top debut as a director.

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