Corrected entry: A powered shuttle destined to leave the atmosphere could not be launched from the top of a flying jetliner for the simple fact that it would never be able to achieve escape velocity while flying. The speeds necessary to achieve sub-orbital injection require a near-100% vertical climb at speeds of well over 9,000 mph. If a shuttle flying at anywhere even near that speed tried to increase its rate of climb from horizontal to vertical, the aerodynamic forces encountered would destroy the airframe of the shuttle. Also, the shuttle's engines use a hypergolic chemical fuel reaction and the resulting thrust is so great that the the jetliner would have been instantly destroyed from the acceleration forces when it was still attached the the shuttle.
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Correction: It is possible to make a shuttle leave the athmosphere on the back of an airplane. Never heard of the Spaceship One? Also, the thrust of an engine is not really related to the fuel used. There exist engines using hypergolic fuel with a thrust as low as a few kilograms. Anyway, if I remember well, the fuel used in the movie is kerosene or something similar, wich is not hypergolic. It's true that the scene is a bit exaggerated but not impossible.
Dr Wilson