“Fifty Shades Freed” (Drama/Thriller: 1 hour, 45 minutes)

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, and Eric Johnson

Director: James Foley

Rated: R (Sexual content, nudity, violence and profanity)

Movie Review: Sex sells movie tickets, that and high-kill body counts. 

Unlike the prequels, the impassionate sex and clichéd romanticism interfere with the story. The sex scenes are plentiful and extended while other more important scenes are washed over quickly, making this story less than persuasive. 

“Fifty Shades Freed” is a lackluster conclusion for the “Fifty Shades” trilogy.

Anastasia Steele (Johnson) and Christian Grey (Dornan) marry but their storybook life does not last long. Jack Hyde (Johnson) continues to threaten their lives and others with whom they have relationships.

James Foley (“Glengarry Glen Ross,” 1992) directed the “Fifty Shades Darker” (2017), the second movie of this franchise that started with ” Fifty Shades of Grey” (2015). The movies play like overly sexualized soap opera episodes or soft porn seen on late night cable television.

Niall Leonard’s screenplay of E.L. James’ novel rushes the dramatic and thrilling parts. Adversely, the screenplay slows down for gratuitous sex scenes that add little to the pending climax of the plot. 

However, when the apex of the story happens, it is anticlimactic. The end is a rushed moment, so the characters can quickly get back to their fairytale lives. 

Grade: C- (Audiences freed from romantic platitudes.)

“Peter Rabbit” (Adventure/Comedy/Family: 1 hour, 33 minutes)

Starring: James Corden, Rose Byrne and Domhnall Gleeson

Director: Will Gluck

Rated: PG (Rude humor and violence)

Movie Review: “Peter Rabbit” has its comical moments, but it is far from rational. This is a shame since Corden, Gleeson and Byrne are at their comical best. Their presence is not enough to save this oddly assembled comedy.

An adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s classic tale, the movie features an incredibly intelligent rabbit, Peter (Corden). Peter is a rebellious rabbit, constantly devising clever schemes to raid the vegetable garden of Old Mr. McGregor (Sam Neill). When the old man dies, his nephew, Thomas McGregor (Gleeson), moves in. The younger McGregor equally despises Peter Rabbit and his other four-legged friends.

One’s ability to suspend belief is necessary when observing movies about animals with the intellect of humans. This is the case of “Peter Rabbit,” except no reasoning exists for the animal’s superior intelligence. 

The humans treat them like normal animals, but when the animals exhibit human-like cerebral capabilities, the humans do not appear surprised in a reasonable manner. 

An awkward screenplay has human characters acting astounded when realizing Peter Rabbit and his friends are capable of advanced thought. Apparently, animals wearing clothes, especially suits, using a cane is an ordinary occurrence. Consistency of the realism presented is the greatest flaw of this family comedy directed by Will Gluck (“Easy A,” 2010).

Grade: C- (Two out of four carrots)

“The 15:17 to Paris” (Drama/History: 1 hour, 34 minutes)

Starring: Alek Skarlatos, Anthony Sadler and Spencer Stone

Director: Clint Eastwood

Rated: PG-13 (Violence, suggestive material, gore, drug references and strong language)

Movie Review: Clint Eastwood directs this real-life drama about Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone. 

They are three United States citizens who, along with others, manage to stop an armed terrorist from killing many people on a train headed to Paris. Their story is epic heroism, but the screenplay, which the men star as themselves, is lackluster. 

“The 15:17 to Paris” chronicles the European travels of Sadler, Skarlatos and Spencer based on their book with co-author Jeffrey E. Stern. The highlight of their book is of course the event on Aug. 2, 2015. That day a terrorist (played by Ray Corasani) opened fire in a train carriage, injuring four before he is subdued by American, British, and French passengers.

Eastwood has been around long enough to know that if you use the actual people to play themselves, you should just make a documentary instead. A drama involves actors, people who can act. Sadler, Skarlatos and Spencer do adequate jobs as novices, but the heroes are not convincing in multiple scenes.

Dorothy Blyskal’s screenplay wastes time getting to know Sadler, Skarlatos and Spencer that she forgets that viewers’ main reason to see the film is to see how the protagonists stop a terrorist. 

Instead, the screenplay stretches its runtime, only applying a small amount of time to the actual Aug. 2, 2015, event. The screenplay’s execution is similar to 2016’s “Sully,” another photoplay based on an actual event that Eastwood directed.

“Sully’s” nice performances by topnotch actors propelled it. “The 15:17 to Paris” has only the heroic actions of several men as its draw. As a drama, that is not enough. 

Grade: C (Real heroism made plain.)