Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Dorothy Blyskal
Running Time: 1h 34min

Review by: Vitali Gueron

Clint Eastwood‘s latest movie The 15:17 to Paris takes us back to August 21, 2015, what was a warm late afternoon/evening ride aboard a high speed train to Paris, France. Three young American friends decided to meet each other in Europe and visit some of the marvelous cities in Italy, Holland and France. While on the train to Paris, they encountered a real life emergency situation when a gun-carrying terrorist starts walking the aisles of the train with the intent to indiscriminately start shooting the unsuspecting train passengers, in an attempt to create a mass casualty event.

One of the three Americans, U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Spencer Stone, who plays himself in the film, jumps to his feet and springs into action in an attempt to subdue the terrorist. His friends Oregon National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler (who also play themselves here) are there to assist Spencer before other passengers jump to aide the three Americans. I think the real life heroes were great at portraying their real life story and hope they have successful careers, in acting or otherwise. It was a unique thing for them to play themselves in the movie and I think it added to the experience.

For their efforts to subdue the terrorist and save the lives of the passengers on board the train, Spencer, Alek and Anthony were recognized as heroes of the French Republic for their gallantry and bravery. They were awarded the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his act of courage, by French president Francois Holland and the award ceremony is the final scene in the movie.

About two thirds of the movie focuses on Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler growing up in in the same town, attending the same school and how they’re often sent to the principal’s office for disciplinary action. They are shown to bond over their interest in guns, and make plans to serve in the military when they grow up. Later, they are shown to work part-time at a local smoothie shop, playing video games and making plans to lose weight. Unfortunately these scenes are not very interesting and I believe that director Clint Eastwood does a disservice to his viewers by showing them to us, as they are mostly-irrelevant portion of the American heroes’ lives.

By the time the events of what is now known as the ‘2015 Thalys train attack’ roll around, the viewers have been subjected to around an hour’s worth of pointless and dare-I-say-boring parts of the three protagonists’ lives. For me, this was precious waste of time that could have been used to shed light on what was happening on a larger scale in the world, and how this one event played into an overall image of bravery, resilience and heart. For this reason, I cannot recommend this movie and think its a big stumble for the usually reliable director.

Have you seen ‘The 15:17 To Paris’? Well, what did you think? 

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