'Fifty Shades of' Meh

Fifty Shades of Grey

In 1986 the world was introduced to a movie that brought kinky sex into the limelight. 9 ½ Weeks is about a Wall Street trader (Mickey Rourke Iron Man 2) and an art gallery assistant (Kim Basinger L.A. Confidential) that enter into a sexual relationship. Rourke’s character being the more experienced in the world of sex, starts to introduce Basinger into a different side to things. After 9 ½ Weeks was released, the use of ice cubes and food in the bedroom was never the same. Fast forward to 2011 and brand new author, E.L. James releases her first book of a trilogy titled Fifty Shades of Grey. The book was a huge success globally despite its raunchy sexual content. Of course with all huge novel successes usually come a film adaptation and this year Universal Pictures took the chance of adapting James’ novel.

Anastasia “Ana” Steele (Dakota Johnson 21 Jump Street), an English Literature major, has been asked to fill in for and by her roommate to interview a young entrepreneur by the name of Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan ABC’s Once Upon a Time). Ana and Christian have an immediate spark of attraction for each other and begin to explore the possibility of an intimate relationship. However, what Ana doesn’t realize is that Christian has a different idea of what their ‘relationship’ should be and it is up to Ana to decide if she shares his idea.

Okay, so the reason that the synopsis of the plot is so short is because, let’s face it, if you don’t know what the plot of this film is, you really have been cut off from the world for almost 3 years. The book and then the film have been huge news for a couple of years now, so I didn’t think I wanted to rehash/waste your time with the details of what the movie is all about. Admittedly, I have read the book (thanks to my wife) and never found what the fuss was all about. Of course with every novel adaption into film, I try very hard to view the film as a separate entity (I can’t say the same when it comes to comic book adaptations but that is something for another time). From a film standpoint, I would have to say that the movie wasn’t too bad…but it did have its problems.

For the acting, I would have to say that Dakota Johnson gave a good performance. Johnson provided the right amount of naivety to Ana that was needed for her character. Johnson was also able not to make Ana stupid either by finding that line between being naive about things and being ignorant. My biggest problem with Johnson’s Ana though, was that she didn’t seem that conflicted by being a submissive and that her only real problem came with the ‘punishment’. Ana seemed to enjoy every other aspect of being Christian’s submissive, but when it came to her stance on being in a normal relationship Johnson’s Ana never really seems to push hard enough for it. As far as Jamie Dornan’s Christian Grey, I will admit that this will be a rare moment when I think they need to replace the actor for the other installments. Dornan never really seems committed to the part. I understand the aloofness that Christian’s character provides, but every scene that Dornan is in seems like he is there to do a job and get paid doing it. Maybe a better way to put it is that Dornan never really feels comfortable in any scene. Christian is a powerful business man, but Dornan seems too timid and couldn’t be taken seriously as a powerful dominant.

The best thing about this movie, however, is the direction by Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy). The English born director did an amazing job of producing a film that is classy, regardless of the amount of sex that was in the novel. Taylor-Johnson was able to take the subject matter and not turn it into a movie you find after midnight on Cinemax. Besides that, Taylor-Johnson also did a great job capturing Ana and most of her emotions throughout the film. I would have said that she capture both characters well, but see my comments above on Jamie Dornan, I don’t think even Francis Ford Coppola could have gotten any more out of Dornan’s cardboard cutout performance.

Gentlemen, this film is for the ladies and the hopeless-romantics out there. Ladies, if you enjoyed the book then might I suggest rereading the book. Dornan is not a very good Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson’s Ana is not supposed to hold up the movie by herself (which she tries gallantly). Hopefully with E.L. James adapting her own novel for the next installment, the next film will be a little better.

The Verdict: Wait for Blu-Ray