Review of The 15:17 to Paris (2018) by Courtney W — 09 Feb 2018

First off I think it is important to go into this movie knowing that it is going to be very different. It wasn't until it was all over that I was really able to appreciate what Clint Eastood did with this movie.

Yes the acting is wooden and the dialog is pretty bland, and that is the genius of this. I was in the Air Force and I know guys like this. They are not really anything special, average guys without a whole lot to say, who try hard and usually have small lives.

Yes the movie is slow and we get to see these guys with their selfie stick moving through europe at breakneck speed and being as awkwardly American as they can; absorbing almost nothing as most tourists do.

The choice to cast the actual Heros and fill out their flashback child selves with green actors is risky but I think it pays off in the end. I felt like I was actually watching people in this and that is unusual in a film.

I felt like the story was something I could relate to having been in the military and Afghanistan. It touched on the disappointments of the service as well as the boredom and BS that happens downrange.

This is unusual storytelling and I can understand why it turns some off, but while I may have cringed a few times at some clunky dialog, I found myself smiling at these honest men, more often than not and inthe end was left feeling that there was a certain charm to the film that I really appreciated.