Movie: Fifty Shades of Grey

Movie Review: “Fifty Shades of Grey”

Reviewed by Gerti

A movie that has gotten a lot attention is “Fifty Shades of Grey,” based on the blockbuster book of a few years back by EL James. It stars Dakota Johnson as the hapless college student Anastasia Steele who was just helping out a sick roommate when she agreed to interview communications industry titan, Christian Grey. He is played by Jamie Dornan, and in true Cinderella fashion, he instantly falls for the guileless Steele, who is also being pursued by several other young men, but doesn’t know that either. Besides being clueless, all she’s lacking here to make her less sexy is coke-bottle thick nerd glasses. She’s a disaster!

Grey tries to charm her by meeting her at the hardware store where she works. Perversely, he picks up some sado-masochistic supplies while she’s helping him shop – rope, duct tape, etc. She doesn’t get the clues. Then he sends her a first edition of “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”, because she told him she was an English major because of the works of Thomas Hardy. He says he would have suspected Jane Austen, which will give Austen lovers a laugh. Then he gets her a new laptop, and eventually a car. Nice boyfriend!

With the story closely following the book, Grey gradually seduces Steele into his “singular” lifestyle, where she would be his submissive and he her dominant. And while she engages in a few introductory episodes with him, she whines frequently about their just being a normal couple, and doing normal dating things, like going out to dinner and the movies. But she also sends him mixed signals, like agreeing to a business meeting alone in his office and going over the “contract” that he wants her to sign to make their relationship official. She goes through the contract pages with him, having him take out things that are objectionable to her, but then teases him about signing it, and leaves without doing so.

Yes, there is a good amount of nudity, mostly hers, as he introduces her to all kinds of sexual behavior (apparently, she’s a virgin in the story). Thanks to Danny Elfman who did the music, it treads the thin line between sexy and silly, as his soundtrack makes it all seem romantic. Dornan plays Grey as conflicted about this relationship, first not wanting to drag Ana into the lifestyle, but then breaking his own rules whenever they are together. If only Ana could project the allure that has caught him in her spell… She generally comes across as cow-eyed and bumbling. We do hear that Grey had an abusive mother, and was then seduced by one of his mother’s friends. Yes, I guess that could all mess him up pretty good where romance is concerned.

Ultimately, however, I thought the movie actually handled the sex more tastefully than the book. I heard that audiences laughed at certain parts, but I’d love to know when, because I found the sex scenes more appealing than some of the dialogue. The film was more Cinderella soap opera than flat-out porn. But the themes here are not for kids or young teens.