I was conflicted after experiencing this movie because there were two flip sides of the coin. One, I respect the heroes in these events for what they accomplished as they stopped the 2015 Thalys train attack from being an unfortunate terrorist attack. We needed an inspiring story at times like these where attacks, such as the tragic news unfolding in Florida, where there is good in people who can make a difference. That being said, the movie about that event is very slow-burning that you become impatient as to why this movie was being structured the way it was presented to the audience. It felt like they had no idea what to do to fill in the remaining running time of the movie besides the main event.
The soldiers (Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos) are portraying themselves in this movie. The movie begins with Spencer and Alek attending a Christian private school as the movie builds up their friendship as they share common interests like guns and are often sent to the principal's office for disciplinary action. They both meet Anthony in the principal's office and they also become friends from him. Both Spencer and Alek have single mothers who stand up and defend them when they get in trouble.
Spencer gets greeted by a Marine recruiter at his part-time job at the smoothie shop and he is encourage to lose weight and get into physical shape to enlist in the Air Force to become a Pararescueman. After Skyping with Alek, Spencer, Alek and Anthony go on a trip to Europe and once aboard the train to Paris, the terrorists are aboard.
This is such a boring movie that is filler because again there is vapid exposition of the characters or the soldiers in this movie. The problem is that the build-up to the main event is not emotionally impactful as it relies on clunky dialogue and a sequence that is endless and irrelevant to the narrative. The build-up relies on the manipulative sentimentality of them enjoying their lives in Europe with selfie stick camera action with them celebrating in nightclubs and visiting places. It's a series of vignettes, rehearsed vignettes.
Speaking of rehearsed vignettes, the soldiers portraying themselves are not trained actors. It is not their fault because the director, Clint Eastwood, has a method of not doing long or repeated takes and calmingly working with actors. That is what it is in the end. It is a movie of rehearsed vignettes that felt like the actors are waiting to be finished and move on with the next scene. Eastwood's method works most of the time with professional actors, but this time around, it does not help because it felt like an audition for the actors reciting bad dialogue.
As for the main event, it is staged well with some suspense, however, I did not feel much emotional weight because of the dull build-up to that event. The dull build-up ruins the entire movie. When I compare it to American Sniper and Sully, besides the professional acting, the build-up to the events and structure is so much better and crafted that you understood the character's emotional weight as they are acknowledged as heroes in the end. The soldiers are heroes in this movie and deservedly so and I respect for what they did, however, in the end, they deserve something much better than a short movie with well-rounded intentions but a nearly mediocre and boring movie. I'm sorry to say that this is one of Clint Eastwood's worst movies.
*1/2
Comments
Post a Comment