Similarities with other films

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2015)

Fifty Shades of Grey has a formulaic quality that puts it alongside films such as 'Maid in Manhattan' and 'The Devil wears Prada'. At the beginning, Anastasia presents herself to Christian Grey and his assistants in a frumpy outfit that hardly fits with the professional environment. In 'The Devil wears Prada', Andrea has an identical situation in being outside the fashion statements of Runway magazine as she also arrives at the office looking frumpy. Both characters get sucked into their respective new worlds - Andrea into the corporate fashion hypnosis, and Anastasia into Christian Grey's hypnosis. Just as Marisa crosses over into the world of Assembly man Chris. Marshall as the Manhattan maid, so Ana's situation is similar. In both cases, the basic human activity is girl meets boy.
Chemistry between Ana and Christian is not as flawed as some have asserted. Ana is slowly trying to understand the strange new world she is entering, and this develops as the film unfolds. Members of the BDSM world who say they wouldn't do what the film's characters do fail to recognise that everyone is different. What Christian and Ana do is unique to them, and so cannot be attached to a text book life style.
There are some reasonable sub-plots, small though they are. The two mothers and Ana's friends and family provide the contrast.
As a romantic/erotic genre, I wouldn't expect the film to be an intense set of character studies that might be found in other films. Fifty Shades of Grey works on its own terms, even if those terms are unique.