The 15:17 to Paris
/"I don't know, ma'am. I just didn't want my family finding out that I died hiding under a table."
Filmology Rating: 2 out of 4
It’s always hard to wonder what you would do when faced with a hard decision that was between saving your own life or risking it to save many other lives. Like Spock said in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”, but how many people can actually follow that life philosophy and put themselves in danger when many other lives are on the line. Those unselfish acts of heroism don’t seem to happen very often in our world anymore, and for a film like The 15:17 to Paris to bring them to light should give everyone a sense of inspiration.
Normally it would seem cruel to ask for anyone who works on a film to never work again. However, having worked on small independent films before you understand that no one tries to craft a poorly made film, but with this film you find yourself questioning if anyone involved has actually taken a Screenwriting 100 or Editing 100 class. The 15:17 to Paris is the screenwriting debut of Dorothy Blyskal and it’s rather obvious from various scenes that feel oddly paced to clunky dialogue such as “My God is bigger than your statistics.” That line might actually be one of the most unintentionally humorous lines of the year and I hope it will be remembered as such when 2018 comes to an end. The editor of the film, Blu Murray, is also rather new to the filmmaking world after only been the editor of two previous films. The crosscutting between the action on the train and the journey that the men had to get onboard the train is distractingly bad. Most of the viewing audience knows the concept of the film, we don’t need to be constantly reminded about why we are watching the complete meanderingness that is occuring.
The sequences where the film struggles the most are the ones where it becomes a philosophical travelogue. It’s clearly trying to hit all of the same beats of the Before series of films, directed by Richard Linklater, but doesn’t even come close to the emotional depth that those films are able to capture. The main reason that those scenes fail is because of the terrible line delivery given by the actors. Now for those who have been paying attention to the marketing for the film, you know that the film features the actual people involved with the incident playing themselves. This strategy was also done with the 2012 film Act of Valor and it resulted with an atrocious film that has thankfully been completely forgotten. The 15:17 to Paris isn’t as atrocious but it clearly won’t have anyone attending the Academy Awards next year.
I’ve always hated films that feel like they are pandering to a specific audience and The 15:17 to Paris continuously feels like it’s pandering to the religious and military base. It’s becoming clear that Eastwood can no longer keep his personal theological views out of his movies and wants to shove his ideology down your throat. Some might call the actions that Eastwood is taking as standing up for conservative values within the Hollywood liberal system. Those individuals have clearly lost touch with reality and are still trying to convince you that The Muppets was an attempt at brainwashing your children, but I digress.
Once the credits started rolling for the film, I found myself asking what was the point of watching this film. Understandably the film is meant to inspire heroism and tell the tales of those who inspire us, but you could get that by reading a simple paragraph about the story of the four men. What is the point of being given a travelogue and learning about the upbringing of the boys. Was I supposed to learn that the education system is a sham and that I should always idolize the military and love Clint Eastwood movies? A keen eye will notice a poster for a much better Eastwood film Letters from Iwo Jima on the wall of young Spencer’s bedroom. The acts which unfold for less than ten minutes of a hour and a half film are clearly heroic and I don’t mean to demean the acts themselves; but in the film they truly feel like an afterthought even after the first few frames of the film set up the tragedy that could have been looming.
When it comes to politics, in the past I considered myself to be a moderate, however these past few months are clearly making me question if our American government has a place for moderates anymore, and I try to look at a film with that level of biases. I never want a film to feel like it wants to preach that their way is the right way and to act like the other side is the Devil himself. Eastwood’s latest film bleeds Red State mentality and begs to have the attention of those who have been “left behind” by our government. If you are one of those people who finds themselves relating to this belief then you will find the film to be an echo chamber that champions your ideology; but if you are one of those who wishes to find the balance in life and craves to find a movie to challenge your intelligence you will sadly not find that on The 15:17 to Paris.
Rating: Skip It
-Jonny G