I am
neither sexually frustrated nor artistically ignorant enough to ever find
reason to read the pathetically popular fan-fiction book franchise written by
E.L. James on her blackberry. Having already endured all four of the Twilight books, I understand the appeal
of poorly written soap opera drama (though the reading of those books ensured
my disinterest in their film adaptations), and approached the viewing of Sam
Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey
with a harsh bias and eagerness to write a ruthlessly unfavorable review. While
the story itself is as unsatisfactory as I had expected, the characters poorly
developed, the situations contrived and unbelievable, the dialogue comically
stupid, and the chemistry more forced than a film with Robert Pattinson as the
lead, Fifty Shades of Grey is far
from the worst film I have seen this year. It wasn’t even the worst film I
watched this week.
While I realize
that this hardly sounds like stellar praise, it came as a shock to find that
there were actually elements of the film that worked. Though I don’t believe,
like, or care about the character of Christian, I was surprised to find that
Jamie Dornan was not as awful as I had anticipated. And even with my extreme
aversion to nepotistic casting in Hollywood
Even though there are a few erotic sequences
within the film, it is hardly as edgy as all of the hype would have you
believe. Even the unrated version of the film could be easily matched by any
generic late-night Cinemax film. Those looking for a truly honest and shocking
portrayal of a dominatrix relationship would be far better off watching Lars
von Trier’s Nymphomaniac: Vol. II,
though that is about the only thing that film does seem to get right. Bondage
hardly takes any real significance in the content of Fifty Shades of Grey, perhaps to save some for the two sequels, or
possibly in order to make it generically bland enough for widespread ticket
sales.
Another thing
left for the sequels is any type of proper character development for the
character of Christian. He is an enigma, seeming to be left mysterious as a
defining aspect of the erotic fantasy, though this places a much higher demand
on the character of Anastasia. While innocent and naïve enough to be a virgin
as a senior in college, Ana is also contradictorily quick to jump into bed with
the playboy millionaire who is also a self-proclaimed sexual deviant. It is a
difficult task to play Ana’s simultaneous fascination and disdain for
Christian’s sexual proclivities, but somehow Johnson makes it far more believable
than the material deserves.
Although the
story is sold as being about Christian bringing Ana into his world of bondage
and emotionless sexual pleasure, the film shows far more of the opposite.
Despite his many rules and restrictions, the draw of Ana’s intriguing innocence
has Christian breaking more of his own rules than Ana is convinced to follow.
Despite his claims to not desire romance, Christian spends most of the film
wooing and romancing Ana rather than seducing her. At the center of the film is
not sexual fantasy, but the fairy tale of a woman slowly “fixing” the heart of
a broken heartthrob billionaire with endless time to dote on her.
The Blu-ray
release of Fifty Shades of Grey
features an unnecessary unrated cut of the film, although it offers nothing
that would have prevented the film from its R-rating. There are a few addition
shots of breasts and thrusting, but more noticeable are the non-sexual
additions. This includes the awful flashback shots that are tacked onto the
ending, causing the movie to finish with a poorly edited whimper rather than
the clever book-end of the theatrical cut. The Blu-ray package also comes with
a DVD and digital copy of the film, and boasts a sneak peek at the next
installment in the franchise, though it is essentially just a shot of Christian
putting a mask on. Again, I get the feeling that the “edginess” of the sequel
will be quickly over-matched by Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, a film considered to be edgy fifteen years ago.
Additional extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes with interviews from
the cast and crew. Despite a variety of different featurettes, with varying
titles, they all seem to blend together as extended commercials to convince
fans to continue feeding the success of the undeserving franchise.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 4.5/10
Historical
Significance: 7/10
Special Features: 5.5/10
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