I Knew It!

Rating: 6/10 (6 January 2016)

I knew it! I knew, as I started enjoying the film, that by the end I was going to be disappointed and in this regard my notion was fulfilled. The movie starts out really strong. In fact, it really turned me on at first and coming from a dedicated gay man I think that's a pretty big compliment. The acting, in fact, is great. The problem lies with the subject matter. As this world is one that I know a little something about, I understand the complexities involved in these relationships and knew that, ultimately, it was going to end with their breaking up. There were moments along the way that excited me, I confess. Christian's courting of Anna is exciting. His deflowering of her once he finds out she's a virgin is exciting. Her initial entry into his sexual world is exciting. He shows her tenderness and seems earnestly desirous of having a relationship with her. The problem, of course, is that they have different needs. It's unacceptable to judge one versus the other as "right and wrong". If nothing else he's fully up front with her about his desires. Problem is that she has no real inclination to explore them except for the fact that she's falling in love with him and does so to get to know him which is counter intuitive to what he's looking for. The more you hold him the less you can have him. She's young and inexperienced and the more she gets to know him the more of him she wants but she wants him HER way and not the way he's able to give her. So ultimately the movie is a downer but there are good moments along the way. Considering it's a mainstream movie they do a decent job but really how can this sort of subject matter be expected to translate to a mainstream Hollywood film? That's really the problem with the film version - they're constrained by their R rating. Anyway, I'm glad I actually watched it, it wasn't a waste of time but it did leave me frustrated by the ending.