The 15:17 To Paris Movie Review {3/5}: Critic Review of The 15:17 To Paris by Times of India

STORY: A true story of three Americans who foiled a train hijacking in Paris in 2015. REVIEW: 'The 15:17 to Paris' is Clint Eastwood taking another shot at recreating on celluloid, heroic moments from real life. This time, the veteran filmmaker deals with the subject of an actual hijacking of a train in Paris by a lone gunman in 2015 and how three brave Americans foiled the plan. As an experiment, Eastwood has cast the real people involved in tackling the gunman; two American soldiers Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone, and their friend Anthony Sadler. As far as films on terrorism go, there’s not much action to be seen here. The entire train attack lasts hardly more than 15 minutes. What’s even more detrimental to the film is Eastwood interspacing the attack with the life stories of the three friends. Right from the time they were in school to the time they chose their respective vocations, the camera follows the trio trying to show that how absolutely normal people can rise above their stature in life and do big things. But this attempt to match all the pieces of the puzzle until the climax hits the viewers does not work in the interest of the film. It just seems like you’re waiting for a payoff that doesn’t quite arrive. The big moment of the film is the actual footage of the French President François Hollande honouring the Americans along with others who helped take-on the hijacker. The filmmaker must have thought that this will be his big money-shot, confounding viewers with footage of an actual prime minister giving out the awards, but that doesn’t work. The reason it doesn't is that you observe that there were other people who were just as important in subduing the hijacker and were mentioned in the film only in passing. From a Clint Eastwood directorial, one expects better. Alas, this one is relegated to being merely an experiment in casting.