Review of The 15:17 to Paris (2018) by Adonay C — 07 Feb 2018

This is better not judged by ordinary measures, with the three men who really did stop the terrorist acting in the three leading roles as themselves. They do a fine job, even if it is obvious they aren't professional actors: this is the key quality of the film.

You can sit through the front part of the show, and think that you have seen more exciting bios and travelogues. But the threads are there: the young boys playing soldiers, the stockpile of toy guns and a real gun kept at home, the willingness to question the status quo and the mothers who stuck up for them with the schools and who stuck together too, the responsibility and decency instilled in the boys, the teamwork, and the men's interest in bigger themes - some philosophising, and some family history.

The film also points out that the Russian army drove Hitler to his final bunker. Stone's early physical workouts are impressive and the men's various military training, including life-saving, kicks in.

The terrorist was armed with a Kalashnikov and hundreds of rounds, plus a knife. As one of the men says, it was one in a million that the rifle misfired when Stone ran straight at it. The three men were on the train unarmed, and in a mortal struggle they took the terrorist down without shooting.

You might think you know this story from newsfeeds. But the awarding of the Legion D'Honneur to the men is greatly moving, as is their return home as heroes. Another of the men, quoted by the French President, said "you have to do something".

So the questions are there: if you believe in and keep guns, but on the day you are unarmed, what would you do? And if you are against guns and never use them, what would you do? Retracing the path with the men themselves, you are a big step closer to the action than you get from regular products, either fiction or documentary, and that makes this interesting, and good cinema.