The 15:17 To Paris

Wow... It's been 10 days since my last post. Sorry... I got busy... kinda

We all remember that incident that took place in France, when three young American men took down a terrorist on a train? Yeah... That's what this is about.

It's kind of a risky venture for Clint Eastwood to put together. Seriously, how do you produce a full length feature about an incident that only lasted a few minutes? It's a recipe for suck.

Or is it?

15:17 To Paris isn't so much about those fateful few minutes that brought these young men to fame. It's about normal, everyday friends, three young people, finding their way in the world... their failures and successes along the way... and what brought them to 'be there' when that moment arrived.

It's a lesson that we can learn, and most likely, many of us have... because it's been demonstrated already...

Every American knows about Flight #whatever, on 9/11, when the passengers stepped up...
This is the same story, with a different ending...
But the story is still the same.
It is, and will be, a lesson and inspiration to every American (and some non-Americans)... to 'step up'...
seize that moment...
do not cower... 
act!.

It's about finding heroism in everyday people.
The film itself isn't boring, but not that engaging either...
Til the 'moment' occurs...
And that moment is messy, complicated, and gripping.
It is depicted as it happened.

Three American dudes... being American dudes...meeting their moment... and matching it.
They made America proud... just because they were who they were. Americans! We are like that.. they didnt come from Canada... right?
Canada is a pussy nation.
Manliness is frowned upon.. that why they elected Justin as their leader...

Clint Eastwood took a huge gamble by casting the real life people to play themselves (Anthony
Sadler, Alek Skarletos, Spencer Stone.)
They are not actors, and it shows. If you are looking for 'actor' type performances, it's not here.
But maybe you can respect three young, American men portraying themselves as three, young American men?... there is a real-world realism here. They are not actors. They are not acting.
I appreciated that.
It works here.

If you haven't seen this movie yet, I strongly recommend it.
It is unique, from a movie-craft sense...
and it is unique in it's depiction of normal people doing hero-type stuff, not because they wanted to, ...they did it  because they were there...
 being who they are.
We can all be heroes, if we do what is right.

Grab the moment.