(spoiler free)
In 2015, aboard a Thalys train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris, a gunman opened fired in one of the carriages. The subsequent events made worldwide news and since then a book about the events has been written; ‘The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Soldiers’. It is this book, written by Jeffrey E. Stern, on which new film ‘The 15:17 to Paris’ is based. Helmed by Clint Eastwood, who has taken a liking to telling these stories of real life heroism (‘American Sniper’, ‘Sully’) the film stars three of the real life passengers who were directly involved in the events.
Going on his track record you’d expect Eastwood to be a pretty safe bet for director considering the type of story the film deals with, however unfortunately you’d actually be very much mistaken as the difference in quality from his previous two films, and this, is staggering. Almost every aspect of this film is problematic, with no one area being solely responsible for the under par finished product. Although, one of the most obvious flaws is the casting of the real life heroes the film focuses on; Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler & Alek Skarlatos. These three men are inspirations and nothing will ever take away from the bravery they exhibited on that train however the simple fact of it is, they’re not actors and it shows. Despite the trio being life long friends the chemistry they present on screen doesn’t feel natural at all and almost all of their conversations with one and other feel forced. Furthermore, the casting of professional performers as their family members only complicates things more, leaving audiences with clearly unauthentic relationships and a confusing atmosphere preventing them full access to the narrative.
The story itself is told in such a dramatised manner, and with the religious content due to the context of the characters the picture comes across as only marginally better than those cringey Christian films with only one intention, evangelism. This method of film making doesn’t lend itself to the cinematic experience in any way and detracts from the gravitas of the real life situation. As the event on the train didn’t actually last that long the film needed more content to help it achieve that feature length running time. As a result the three main characters are further explored with the story reverting back to their childhoods amongst frustratingly abrupt sequences of action from the train.
The scenes depicting the friend’s childhoods aren’t helped by the awkward child performances & unnatural dialogue and in addition to this, much of this build up feels unnecessary. This only continues as the three grow up and embark on their backpacking trip which little did they know would lead them to the very train in which the gunman had planned his attack. Audiences are forced to endure the aimless wanderings of the group around several European cities before eventually reaching the titular train journey. By this stage viewers are most likely going to be too indifferent to this group and the story as a whole to actually want to see the inevitable attack take place.
After seeing the film play out in it’s entirety I had to ask the question of whether or not this was the right format to tell this story and the answer was a resounding no. It would have been much better suited to a documentary film as ‘The 15:17 to Paris’ just isn’t substantial enough to warrant it’s theatrical release or running time. It’s a terrible shame as a story like this deserves exposure, but of the right kind, and this film categorically fails in doing so.
Written by Hamish Calvert
Rating – 2/10
Question: What’s your favourite film directed by Clint Eastwood?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)
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