The 15:17 to Paris review

THE 15:17 TO PARIS:

A WELL-INTENTIONED BUT CLUMSY MESS OF A BIOPIC!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Three men will perform an unbelievable act of heroism in The 15:17 to Paris

            The 15:17 to Paris kept me away from Fifty Shades Freed this weekend, I guess that’s worth praising about, certainly wish the movie was better though. Director, Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry franchise, Million Dollar Baby, Sully) brings the incredible true story about three men onboard a train to Paris who stopped a terrorist attack, with The 15:17 to Paris, featuring the real-life people involved in the event portraying themselves.

            It’s definitely an ambitious project and I was intrigued by the idea of having the real people star in the film. Unfortunately, as well-intentioned the movie may be, it’s pretty clumsy with awkward pacing, focus in the wrong areas, and a rather anti-climactic final act.

            The film follows three American friends, Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler, and Alek Skarlatos aboard a train bound for Paris in the evening of August 21, 2015. But when a terrorist attack begins on the train, these three men use their skills, wits, and friendship to thwart the attack and save the lives of more than 500 passengers onboard in an act of heroism.

            The film also stars Mark Moogalian as himself, Judy Greer (The Descendants, Jurassic World, Ant-Man) as Joyce Eskel, Jenna Fischer (The Office, Blades of Glory, Brad’s Status) as Heidi Skarlatos, Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Veep, American Ultra) as Coach Murray, Thomas Lennon (Reno 911, The Odd Couple, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) as Principal Michael Akers, Sinqua Walls (Pair of Kings, Once Upon a Time, Teen Wolf) as Marine, P.J. Byrne (The Legend of Korra, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Gift) as Mr. Henry, Jaleel White (Family Matters, Sonic the Hedgehog, Total Blackout) as Garrett Walden, and Robert Pralgo (The Blind Side, 12 Rounds, Furious 7) as Mr. Skarlatos.

            Overall, The 15:17 to Paris is an unfortunate misstep in Clint Eastwood’s directing career which is a shame after a slew of successes with American Sniper and Sully. I’ll give him credit for taking a huge risk and casting the real people as themselves instead of big-named actors, although that does lead to problems with the film.

            I more than appreciate what they did on the train, however in terms of acting in film, they’re not very good. They don’t exactly do a horrible job acting but hardly ever did I feel like they sold their emotional moments and it was hard to be invested.

            The acting didn’t bother me that much, but if there’s something that I had a huge issue with regarding this film, it’s the pacing. Despite the movie being called The 15:17 to Paris and most of the marketing focuses on the three men on the train being attacked by terrorists, none of that really happens until the end.

            I assume since it was an action that only took about 15 minutes to complete and Eastwood was trying to make a full-length movie out of it, they added a lot of scenes that were probably shot as filler for the runtime. The beginning showing them as kids I thought was done okay and I didn’t have a problem with it, but the scenes of them touring Europe felt so long and it almost feels like you’re watching a tour of Europe that ends with a train attack.

            I understand establishing the characters and allowing the audience to be invested in them when the inevitable attack happens. But they spend the majority of the film touring Italy and Germany prior to boarding the train to Paris, I was so impatient and bored I was mentally shouting “Get on the damn train already so the plot can happen!”.

            Once we get to the terrorist attack, it’s pretty underwhelming and that should not be the case. I’ve seen several movies that revolve around terrorist attacks and even the less-overblown films still made a big deal out of the event.

            We know nothing about the terrorist, who he works for, and his reasoning for the attack, he simply shows up with a gun, shoots a few people, and is quickly defeated. This movie feels really cut-together and rushed, and had they established the terrorist better or depicted the aftermath of the event in a similar way Thank You For Your Service tackled the impacts of war and violence, this probably could have been a much stronger story.

            I appreciate Clint Eastwood’s attempts at depicting the event and for taking a risk by having the real people involved star in it. Sadly, he missed the mark with The 15:17 to Paris and this is a train I don’t see myself hopping on again anytime soon.