[yasr_overall_rating]
Three Americans discover a terrorist plot aboard a train while in France.
“The 15:17 to Paris” is a cinematic time bomb and director Clint Eastwood is the timekeeper as he parlays a 2015 terrorist attack into a much-anticipated story of lives that intersected and intercepted one another at just the right time to be impactful. The film is based on the true story of three young men, Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, and Anthony Sadler who befriended one another in grade school in Sacramento, California and as adults, came to the pinnacle of their lifelong relationship in the midst of a much anticipated trip on the Thalys train to Paris, France that turned into a terrorist attack.
As young men, Spencer, Alek, and Anthony, who were children raised by single parents, dealt with several obstacles as each tried to develop some altruistic coping mechanism that would keep them from constantly getting in trouble at school and in their communities. When they could not depend on the trusted resources in their neighborhoods to keep them grounded, they learned to depend on one another to ease the pain of rejection and to stay humble and uplifted. As they grew older and each of their lives got busier and more challenging, they made a promise to one another that they would take time out to take a train trip together to Paris.
Coming from two different locations on that fateful day, it was a glorious reunion as the three men caught up with each other’s lives and were elated that they finally got to experience their trip of a lifetime. Little did they know, that a terrorist was holed up in the restroom with three hundred rounds of ammunition ready to unload on the five hundred passengers. Passenger Moogalian, who was immediately outside the door, took the first bullet as the attack played out throughout the train ride. These three men immediately sprung into action recalling every single element of their former lives and as a trio worked together to save wounded passenger and save the lives of all the others on the train.
The most incredible part of this film is that the actors are the actual heroes who experienced the terrorist attack. Director Clint Eastwood did an incredible job of mentoring these young men by taking them under his wing to produce an epic reenactment of the event based on their book. With Anthony Sadler stating, “In a moment of crisis, you have to do something,” the humbling characteristics of these valiant heroes is evident throughout the entire movie and seemingly holds true in their day-to-day living since that day. Don’t miss this heartwarming and gut-wrenching story of the personable trio who never hesitated to act in a time of need using their relevant lifelong friendship as the common denominator in their role as heroes.
In theaters Friday, February 9th
