Federal investigators are protesting being shown as bad guys in Clint Eastwood's 'Sully'

Advertisement

Advertisement
Sully

Warner Bros.

Tom Hanks in "Sully."

The federal investigators depicted in Clint Eastwood's new film "Sully" - about the real-life investigation of Chelsey Sullenberger, the pilot who made an emergency landing of a U.S. Airways flight in the Hudson River in 2009 - are protesting it. They claim the film is inaccurate and damaging to their reputations, The New York Times reports.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that conducted the investigation, has said that the film's portrayal differs "in both tone and substance" from its public records of the events, according to the Times.

Despite having not seen the film, Robert Benzon, the man who led the investigation, claims that what he has heard about the movie's heated interrogations (and seen in the trailer) are not true to the actual events. 

"We weren't out to hose the crew," Benzon said. "There were no rubber hoses being brought out, no bright lights ... Sully is worried about his reputation, but this movie isn't helping mine."

Nonetheless, Chelsey Sullenberger himself told the Times in an email that the scenes in question - in which he is played by Tom Hanks - do accurately reflect how he felt during the investigation.

Advertisement

"For those who are the focus of the investigation, the intensity of it is immense," Sullenberger said of the process, which he found "inherently adversarial, with professional reputations absolutely in the balance."

"Sully," which opens in theaters Friday, has received positive reviews in advance of its nationwide premiere.

Watch the film's trailer below:

NOW WATCH: How Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson makes and spends his millions