Something is going on with the new Clint Eastwood movie about an attempted terrorist attack on a train, “The 15:17 to Paris,” that doesn’t sound like Hollywood.
How often do the main actors play themselves?
And how often do those actors spend a morning in church, getting prayed over?
And how often does the director, a Hollywood legend, go up against the film ratings agency and win?
It’s all happening with the new movie, based on a story that riveted two continents. “The 15:17 to Paris,” set for release Feb. 9, tells the story of the 2015 Thalys train attack in which three Americans helped stop an armed Islamic terrorist from perpetrating carrying out a mass-casualty terror attack.
According to Fox’s outlet in Sacramento, Pastor Anthony R. Sadler of Shiloh Baptist Church on Sunday preached about the movie.
“That he would take three unlikely characters from Sacramento, California, bring them all the way across the continents and have them on that train to do his work. Only God knew,” he said.
It was his son, also named Anthony, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone whose heroics are being documented.
The three spent Sunday morning being prayed over at the church.
“I’d say faith has everything to do with it, because we were raised religious, and you can’t really watch the movie without picking up on that,” Skarlatos told the station.
“And even on the train, there were so many things that came into play that it just couldn’t be chance; there had to be God or something looking over us, because there is no way that all happened by coincidence,” he said.
Their appearance was a kickoff to the movie’s promotional tour, featuring an advance screening.
The three say their lives have been different since they halted the August 2015 terror attack.
But they say the story in the movie is genuine.
The Hollywood Reporter said Eastwood won his fight with the Classification and Rating Administration, which initially gave the film an “R” rating for the train attack scene.
Eastwood protested, and it was revised to PG-13, which will allow more teens access.
One commentary noted that the patriotic message in the film must be irritating Hollywood, a largely leftist community where Republicans and Christians sometimes fear admitting their beliefs.
The commentary called the “R” rating a “cheap shot” that drew Eastwood’s ire.
“Not only did he take them on, he blew them away,” it continued.
WND reported when the three who fended off the terror attack said they believe God intervened.
“The odds of our exact situation happening to us are too astronomical to believe that it was just purely chance; God had a hand in it,” said Stone. “I believe we’re vessels, to be used by Him, to do His work. And it was an honor to do something that good.”
The three men helped subdue Ayoub El Khazzani when he boarded Thalys train 9364 armed with an AKM assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Khazzani, inspired by Islamic preaching online, was likely planning a massacre, and only the courageous actions of passengers, including Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler, prevented him from succeeding.
“The 15:17 to Paris” also recounts the friendship of the three men, the military experiences of Skarlatos and Stone, and the importance of faith.
Eastwood, who produces as well as directs the film, was widely praised for his positive image of the American military in “American Sniper,” which was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards.
The new film is widely anticipated by conservatives and Christians eager to see a movie that reflects their values.
In a recent interview, Eastwood stated Skarlatos, Stone and Sadler had a “natural gift” for acting.
“The more they thought about it, the more they got with it,” he said.
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