'The 15:17 to Paris' Review: A Bizarre Re-creation of Real-Life Heroism

The end result is too peculiar to just be dismissed as ?bad,? but I can?t imagine that Stone, Sadler, and Skarlatos?s acting careers have much of a future. watch the 15:17 to paris 2018 re-creates their courageous moment on that train, yes, but that sequence amounts to about 15 minutes of time in a movie that runs a roomy-feeling 95. So there are also a lot of less impressive re-creations: the three friends meeting in middle school, Stone taking tests to be in the military, and a solid chunk of scenes of them vacationing around Europe, taking selfies, and ordering beer at various restaurants.

The film has all the subtlety of a military-recruitment video. As kids, the trio love to play with toy guns and run around in the woods but struggle to conform to the rules of the strict Christian school they attend. As an adult, Stone lives a listless life until he decides to get in shape and apply to join the Air Force, prompting a long workout montage and a series of scenes detailing the tests one must pass to become a soldier. Skarlatos is also in the military, but Eastwood doesn?t delve as much into his upbringing, having clearly decided that Stone is the most intriguing member of the trio.

?You ever just feel like life is just pushing us towards something?? Stone asks Sadler as they look out on the Venice skyline. ?Like, some greater purpose?? Some of the details dropped into The 15:17 to Parisare meant to illuminate Stone?s crucial role in subduing the train shooter; there?s a reason viewers get that scene of him learning jiu-jitsu, say, or being taught how to apply pressure to a neck wound. Through it all, there are also frequent suggestions of a higher power guiding Stone toward something special?his mother (played by Judy Greer) is religious, and Skarlatos?s mom (played by Jenna Fischer) informs him that God has told her something very exciting will happen in his future.

But before all that action, there?s scene after stilted scene of the three buds hanging out and swapping canned bits of dialogue. As a director, Eastwood is renowned for shooting quickly and only doing one or two takes, an approach that feels borderline ruinous when the three stars of the film have never acted before. Other recent Eastwood efforts, like the excellent Sully, were helped by the magnetic movie stars at their center; The 15:17 to Parisunfortunately reminded me more of a school play or a workplace-safety video.

Then there?s the attack itself, where the camera is focused entirely on the actions of Stone, Skarlatos, and Sadler, who acted boldly and prevented tragedy. But the gunman, Ayoub El-Khazzani (Ray Corasani), is given nary a line; he is a faceless, meaningless villain, a problem to be solved and triumphed over. In the past, Eastwood has sought to understand the motivations on every side of a conflict (think of his wonderful film Letters From Iwo Jima, which focused on the Japanese side of the World War II battle), but he makes no such attempt here. Perhaps he deemed El-Khazzani?s alleged actions too monstrous to be worthy of examination.