Cropped Cropped Moviesdrop Logo.png
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
  • True Stories
    • Casino Movies
    • Disaster Movies
    • Inspirational Movies
    • Hacking Movies
    • Travel Movies
    • Robbery Movies
    • Crime Movies
  • Horror Movies
    • Korean Horror Movies
    • Bollywood Horror Movies
    • Exorcism Horror Movies
    • Zombie Horror Movies
    • Horror Movie Dolls
    • Single Location Horror Movies
    • Found Footage Horror Movies
  • War Movies
    • Hollywood War Movies (True Stories)
    • World War 1 Movies (True Stories)
  • Explained! ✅
    • Squid Game 🦑
    • Jai Bhim ✊
    • The Boys 🦸‍♂️
Cropped Cropped Moviesdrop Logo.png
Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Best Hollywood War Movies Based On True Stories And Events

War Horse (2011)

Best World War 1 Movies Based On True Stories And Events

V/H/S (2012)

Interesting Found Footage Horror Thriller Movies You Should Watch!

Single Location Horror Movies

Scary Single Location Horror Movies That Are Terrifying

Best Horror Movies Based On True Stories & Events

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) | "Janghwa, Hongryeon"

Best Korean Horror Movies You Should Definitely Watch (At Night)

blair witch project

Top Calorie Burning Horror Movies You Can Watch Instead Of Having Sex

Titanic (1997)

Best Disaster Movies Inspired By True Events & Stories

The 15:17 to Paris (2018) Review: Cares More About The Timetable!

  • Last updated on February 10, 2018 by Ravi Kiran(mdrites)
  • Short URL : https://moviesdrop.com/?p=5389
  •  


Let's Connect on Social Media
  • Follow @MoviesDrop

Clint Eastwood returns after his stellar Sully with another film that pays tribute to American heroes. This time around, it is the three men majorly responsible for averting the 2015 Thalys Train attack — Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos. What’s more? They get to play themselves in the movie too.

The 15:17 to Paris (2018) Review

The 15 17 To Paris (2018) Review

So, do they ‘act’ naturally?

Very often, we discredit good acting with the clichéd usage of ‘natural acting’. It is a classic misnomer. Acting is nothing but fake, although in a positive sense. We fake it when we are unable to ‘pretend’ properly. We act when we behave closely to what we are naturally expected to respond. While it is a brilliant choice to cast newcomers and especially people who were real-life heroes themselves, you expect the treatment to come ‘naturally’. The 15:17 to Paris sadly falters there. What we end up witnessing then is a re-enactment of how the event played out. If you have observed crime series, you will realize that the crime has an adrenaline rush to it which the re-enactment would lack. This is obvious. The former happens out of a spontaneous sequence of actions and reactions. The latter arises out of a conscious reliance on memory and is staged out to re-create the event as close to how it factually transpired. While the actors were good in this part, they seemed a little drawn out compared to other scenes.

Linear screenplay and textbook narration.

When we depict a historical event such as this, the film naturally requires a sense of urgency to make the audience grasp the suddenness with which events unfolded, how the people managed the situations and a few emerged as heroes. This would only work on a grander scale if the antagonist you show, although a single person, in this case, is tied to a larger worldview and a thicker political undercurrent. I am surprised that a filmmaker like Clint Eastwood, who is known for showing stark contrasts between the protagonist and antagonist forgets about the backstory of the antagonist at all. It only makes the heroic attempt look smaller as a one-off incident. Supposing we got to see the worldview of the gunman, Ayoub El-Khazzani and what motivated him to shoot people in the first place, it would have given the audience enough reasons to side with the protagonist. Because, in the end, as we know, he was fighting a lone battle and was silenced eventually.

The 15 17 To Paris (2018) Movie

Added to that is the way this film moves. It moves like a dreary history that stays true to its timeline of events rather than focusing on the main event itself. Why not hurry to the event, explore and examine its undercurrents, to understand the motivations of the characters involved? A non-linear screenplay with a crisper narration would have helped in enhancing the grandness of this tale and make it more appealing. We all are interested in history provided it is told well. No one wants information available on Wikipedia. Even in documentary dramas, the ebbs and flows of the action on screen have a sense of urgency.

The backstory is fine but is the backbone strong?

It is essential to know the backstory of the characters and while it is appreciated that Clint Eastwood wanted to show the transition of the three kids from childhood to depict how they have evolved, what the backstory lacks is a conviction to interest you. It ends being just Cinéma vérité. You are informed that Spencer and Aleksander come from religious families but nothing more than that. What are their family values and what makes them the way they are barely mentioned?





Laborious detailing and lacks the cinematic appeal.

The film is laborious detailing. We understand that the event took place during their Europe vacation but we do not need to know the places they took selfies in. Because this movie is not about their vacation. It is an event that could have proved to be catastrophic. That the movie attracts you to some level is because of Spencer Stone who seems like a good bloke with his charming smile and his friendship with Anthony Sadler. They manage to keep the train moving even if it happens to not obey their commands.

The 15:17 to Paris seems more like a train that in its need to adhere to the timetable schedule, does not care about the journey it undertakes.

Last updated on February 10, 2018

You might also like these!

  • Does Netflix Never Have I Ever TV Series Show Whitewash Indian Culture

    Reviews

    Does Never Have I Ever Whitewash Indian Culture? 🤔 🇮🇳

  • Karnan Kandaa Vara Sollunga Song Santhosh Narayanan

    Reviews

    Karnan (2021) Discussion: Do We Need More Films Like This?

Author

Ravi Kiran

Ravi Kiran cribs about the Chennai Traffic but manages to be on time for every movie show. When not staying in Satyam, he loves reading a book at home while listening to his favorite film scores. Happily works for a publishing company and loves engaging in debates over the quality of Pasta.

  • My Website
  • Follow https://twitter.com/mdrites
  • Follow

Subscribe

[contact-form-7 id="4706"]
  • Comments
  • Facebook Comments
  • Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cropped Cropped Moviesdrop Logo.png
Short Link : https://moviesdrop.com/?p=5389
  • Tweet
Prev Next
Cropped Cropped Moviesdrop Logo.png
About

MoviesDrop is a Community for Movies, TV Series & Documentaries. Get unbiased reviews and interesting updates about your favorite Films & TV Shows.

We want to cover all the leading genres like Horror, Thriller, Crime, Comedy, Drama, etc. We believe Movies can do a lot to your life, so we do our best to make this blog interactive.

© Copyright | MoviesDrop

Theme Crafted by 7Span

Follow Us
Subscribe
[contact-form-7 id="4706"]
Part Of Slashsquare Network