Few true stories are as ripe for big screen treatment as the “Miracle on the Hudson,” the incredible 2009 emergency landing into the Hudson River by U.S. Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. Thanks to the relentless 24-hour-news-cycle, it’s also a story most of us don’t need a Hollywood movie to reenact.

Therein lies the challenge for director Clint Eastwood. How can an entire movie be made about 208 seconds of (incredible) piloting? “Sully” finds its narrative utilizing a number of Hollywood biopic conventions — most of them with subtlety and success. Eastwood, however, can’t quite complete the mission without fudging some important facts.

The overall success of “Sully” hinges on the casting of Tom Hanks — the everyman actor with the perfect mix of star power and anonymity. Hanks, despite years of playing some of our favorite heroes, can still disappear into a role, and his performance is the warm, stoic and humble Sullenberger we all imagined and extrapolated from the news coverage in 2009.

More, Hanks adds dimension to the man in the form of the fear and trauma he faced in the aftermath of the event. “Sully” takes this perspective in the opening sequence, when Hanks as Sully reimagines the incident as if he had turned back to the airport rather than attempt the water landing.

The scene culminates with an airplane striking a skyscraper in New York City, an image nobody needs help envisioning. It’s a bold-but-essential choice by Eastwood, in part because the movie presents the “Miracle on the Hudson” as a defining moment for New York City and the country in the years following 9/11. As more than one character mentions, it’s a genuine New York story that embodies the best aspects and people of the city.

“Sully” bolsters the runtime with short, efficient vignettes involving a few passengers, the ferry boat captain first on the scene that morning and a few other key players. The movie honors Sully’s repeated insistence that there were numerous heroes on the Hudson, most especially his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, played here by Aaron Eckhart. The movie even sprinkles a few flashbacks — quick, unobtrusive moments in Sully’s piloting history.

The gears of the Hollywood biopic may be showing, but Eastwood’s economy as a filmmaker continues to be his greatest strength. He never lingers on a single trope for too long, and he’s got one of the best actors in the world selling the machinations.

And anyway, the film’s detailed account of the plane’s water rescue requires little Hollywood embellishment. All that material the world saw play out on television ends up being the film’s most emotional and thrilling stretch.

In terms of pacing and structure, “Sully” is Eastwood’s most accomplished film in a while. There’s an energy to the film that’s been lacking in his work over the past decade, even in his war-set “American Sniper.”

Unfortunately, Eastwood can’t resist taking a few dramatic liberties with the story, as the primary hook of the film’s marketing — the intense interrogation Sully and Skiles faced from the National Transportation Safety Board after the crash — has been reported to be largely fictional.

Hollywood biopics change facts all the time, especially when a story requires additional antagonistic force. While the intention may have been to dramatize the scrutiny and insecurity Sully faced in those safety hearings, the movie villainizes the investigators to levels of comic absurdity. Other than padding the running time, the movie simply doesn’t need the distraction.

The divergence from reality sullies (ha ha) what is otherwise a satisfying and intense true life account. According to a press interview with Hanks, the real life Sully even requested to have the investigators’ names changed after reading their negative depiction in the script.

Even in Hollywood — Sully’s looking out for everyone else. If nothing else, “Sully” and Hanks give us the hero we remember.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.