Well executed but drags on a touch

Rating: 6/10 (14 February 2015)

It's common knowledge American audiences aren't particularly comfortable with explicit sexuality in film. Look at Martin Scorsese's unbelievably brilliant 'The Wolf of Wall Street', all anyone could talk about was how much graphic sex there was throughout - completing overshadowing the masterpiece of a film itself. So I don't envy the filmmakers charged with the task of bringing the infamous '50 Shades of Grey' to the big screen. If they went too far with it people were going to be offended and if they didn't go far enough the fans would be let down. Keeping all this in mind I think they did a pretty good job.
You'd have to have had your head pretty firmly under a rock not to have heard anything about the rigorous casting process that went on to find the two leads for this film. You'd hope with the amount of thought and effort that seemed to go into it they would have made some good decisions. I'm pleased to say they did. Dakota Johnson particularly impressed me. She especially nailed the early scenes where the character of Anastasia Steele is still shy and awkward. Her transformation through the movie was well acted and believable. A very impressive performance. Jamie Dornan was not the first choice for the role of Christian Grey, and I have to admit that before going into the film and based entirely on looks, I wasn't entirely convinced. Any doubts I had though were erased pretty quickly and he encompassed the role very well. He found the perfect balance between charm and having a dark side that the audience wants to know more about.
125 minutes run time is pushing it a little for my liking because all the extra 20-30 succeed in doing is to frustrate the audience that we've already seen the extent of what they're willing to show us. It could never be said that this film pushed the envelope - if anything it certainly leans further towards the safe side. Having said that, had the film pushed any harder people would most likely have simply dismissed it as pornography. As previously mentioned I don't envy the decision makers in this instance. The actors sell it though and make the two hours very watchable. It also contains an interesting ending that I'd imagine wasn't an easy sell to the studio.