15:17 to Paris

My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library.

This movie is criminally underrated. Seems that many viewers just wanted to see action on the train. While that is the climax it takes all of 15 minutes to show that and it is gripping. That alone would not have made a worthwhile movie.

But Eastwood made a movie about the three men and their lives leading up to that point. They were friends in grade school, they were good kids but got into typical schoolboy mischief. As young adults they each went their own ways but stayed in touch. One of them received training in the Air Force that came in very handy. In 2015 they agreed to meet in Europe to do some sightseeing, gradually working their way towards France. They took the 15:17 to Paris.

The three men Alek, Anthony, and Spencer from Sacramento, play themselves. It didn't start out that way, many actors auditioned for the parts, but in the end Eastwood felt it would be most authentic to use them. And I think it worked out great. Sure they are not professional actors but they were there, they know exactly how everything went down, they are of course authentic, and each does a fine job.

When the terrorist, armed with several hundred rounds of ammunition, began his attack the men didn't hesitate. They did what should be done more often in situations like this, charge the shooter and subdue him. For their bravery and effectiveness they received the highest honors from France.

Good movie, and the 12-minute "making of" on the DVD is interesting.

SPOILER: I'm very mixed on Clint Eastwood's filmography especially in recent years. He is responsible for some great work from behind the camera but that hasn't really been the case in recent years. The 15:17 to Paris looked a bit bland and like a run of the mill affair when it comes to recreation of recent global events in film. It didn't help that critics weren't too pleased but of course, I then remembered that I never listen to critics. I'll tell you, the film is flawed and has slow passages but I liked it more than I thought I would.

The film is based on the real life events about a train that had a terror attack foiled on its way from Amsterdam to Paris. The attack was stopped primarily by three men who were best friends growing up. One of them attempts to join the military and the film focuses on his trials to make it in the military, his relationship with his friends, and his quest to find out what his purpose is and how he can truly save some lives.

The first note that needs to be made about the film is that the three lead actors cast in the film are the actual three who acted during the real life incident. With that however, comes a loss in quality of acting in the film. I get that Eastwood wanted to go with an authentic element by having the guys who lived it tell the story, but you could just tell that these weren't actors as they weren't always convincing or delivering lines properly. The film does spend an extended amount of time going into backstory as well which a times was quite noticeable.

Otherwise, I enjoyed it. Some of the cinematography and locations (especially when the cast is on vacation) is gorgeous. The last twenty minutes or so are quite intense and satisfying. The event was something that isn't enough to warrant an entire feature film so I get that we had to go off point. Was the film necessary? No. It is however better than some of the stuff I've seen from Eastwood in recent years so I'll take it.

6.5/10

Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos are childhood best friends. Spencer's mom (Judy Greer) and Alek's mom (Jenna Fischer) are single moms. The kids often get in trouble and the principal of the Christian school blames their upbringing. The friends befriend fellow trouble maker Anthony Sadler. Spencer and Alek would join the military. On their leave, they decide on an European vacation with their lifelong buddy Anthony. They are on the train to Paris where they confront a terrorist.

The basic problem is that director Clint Eastwood is asking too much from these real life heroes. They are not trained actor and they can't hold the screen. I do like the childhood section which obvious does not have the three real people. It also ties into Spencer's heroism a couple of times. In reality, that's all that's needed. It just needs a couple of more scenes that relate to his impulse to act at that moment. Otherwise, the movie needs more of the initial fight without the three Americans. Quite frankly, the first third of the movie could be getting on the train, first noticing the long bathroom break, and then the struggle up to the point when Spencer peers around the seat. Then it can go back to their childhood and cut back on some of their adult lives to save them from their acting limitations. Eastwood's conviction is bigger than his pragmatism. Greengrass would have smoked this.

While it doesn't come close to Clint Eastwood's best films, I still definitely enjoyed this story of life and bravery., but some will find the film too slow and just waiting for the thwarted terrorist attack. We all know the story, 3 Americans stop an attempted terrorist attack aboard a train to Paris, but the film is almost barely about that, its more of story about their lives and what led them to their destiny. I only really sort of didn't like the acting, which I will discuss later, but for the most part I had no issues with this film, which is not over-patriotic flag waving propaganda like many anti-military Liberals will say it is. Its a story about the lives of men as well as when bravery is forced upon average citizens.

First off, about the acting, the Americans didn't do the best job, but that is understandable because these are not actors, but the real men who were there. So its very clear that they are untrained actors, even with the help of veteran actor Clint Eastwood. The story was well put together, chronicling the lives of the heroes in question. Though some of the touching an emotional conversations are bit cheesy, which is surprising coming from Clint Eastwood but it goes by quickly and ws no real issue. But over all I thoroughly enjoyed this film, even with its slight flaws that honestly only bothered me slightly.

I would recommend it.

I have the greatest admiration for Clint Eastwood, both as an actor and director. In the directorial role he never fails to astound me with the breadth of topics and genres he is prepared to operate within. Even his failures such as Absolute Power and Jersey Boys still have degrees of interest. But with The 15:17 to Paris, he's clearly hit the wall.

This is essentially a 90 minute re - enactment of events leading up to, during and after, 3 American tourists (thankfully) thwarted a terrorist attack on a Paris bound train from Amsterdam in 2015. In bringing first time screenwriter Dorothy Blyskal's script, to the screen, Eastwood has decided to have the 3 real - life gentleman play themselves in the film adaption. It's a brave move with arguably only qualified success.

For all those history police, that continually charge historical cinematic dramas such as this, with not being factual enough, this time they should have little to complain about. I'm sure with the real life heroes aboard, the project rarely strays from the known facts of the incident, where certainly people's lives were on the line.

The trouble here is there is clearly not enough content to make a stand alone feature. We are thus delivered quite boring, pedestrian stories of the men as children, teenagers and later as adults with military backgrounds. This is not to forget all the "great" travel log footage of the guys wandering through various European cities and shock, horror, going to discoes and meeting the odd girl, prior to the fateful journey on said train. I found it tedious and dull and the movie itself, despite its relatively short length, extremely padded out.

The 15:17 to Paris is a well - intentioned tribute to 3 real life heroes, but it would have been better dealt with in something like a 60 Minutes segment, rather than an expanded feature film. Hard to believe that this is a movie from the same director who gave us (in the same biographical vein) the terrific, American Sniper.