The 15:17 to Paris Movie Review

The 15:17 to Paris (2018)

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Written by: Dorothy Blyskal (screenplay by), Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone and Jeffrey E. Stern (based on the book by)
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler, Spencer Stone, Judy Greer, Jenna Fischer, Tony Hale, Jaleel White
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
An attempted terrorist attack on a Paris bound train is prevented by three courageous young Americans. Their friendship was their greatest weapon that saved the lives of those on board.

Verdict
The gimmick is that the real life heroes play themselves. They aren't great actors, and while that's obvious the glaring problem is that the dialog is incredibly dull. It does nothing to flesh out the characters. The actual event wraps up in just a few minutes, devoid of any tension. There's no reason to watch this, but if you do, start at the sixty-five minute mark and then check out when you're ready.
Skip it.

Review
The easy move for an action move like this is to open on the precipice of the big event and then back track. I'm glad this doesn't do that so blatantly, providing just a hint. It's a good opening that doesn't have a good follow up. The movie then tracks all the way back to when the three leads met.

 

I suppose this wants us invested in the characters so that when danger unfurls we care. It's a neat bullet point that they have the real people, but their performances are noticeably flat.
I don't know if it wants to make them average joes or screw ups.  Stone and Alec join the military where Stone seems to fail at every endeavor. Alec leaves his ruck stack at a village causing his unit to return. We don't know what Anthony does. All we know is that he likes to take selfies.

 

The dialog is sparse. It's a lot of "What's up dog." That's the extent, and even when Anthony and Stone are traveling, their dialog doesn't go any deeper. It's like someone focused the camera on them and asked them to remember what they did on the spot but they don't really remember. This doesn't shape the characters at all. That fault is beyond the actors and is completely the script. This is Before Sunrise stripped of all dialog and replaced with "Hey bro!" "I'm hungry bro!" and "Snap a selfie bro."

Even the plot structure is strange. The movie flashes back randomly, but it would be nice to have logical cut points. Have each of them flashback when they are on the train and in danger, thinking about their lives and reliving memories. Or the attack triggering memories. The plot could create a patch work of memories that form the story of these guys, but what we get is bland. That connection from past to present just isn't thee.

We don't get to the train until two-thirds in. In most movies this would be the first scene. I assumed the movie would build this event up and make this intense, but it doesn't. I don't want a cookie cutter movie, but this isn't innovative. It would help this movie to show us a little bit about a few people on the train as the focus slowly shifts to what's about to unfold.
The attack happens so quickly I was left wondering if that was it. I don't know if this was trying to be faithful to the events and/or book, but it's just not built to be a movie.