While Johnson and Dorman light up the screen, but the film falters behind the scenes.

Rating: 4/10 (10 February 2015)

50 Shades of Grey has now reached classic status among women who marvel over this book and while I don't quite get why, I respect the hell out of EL James and applaud her for her ability to make something so daring and racy. However, now that it has now jumped from the page to the screen it has something to it that keeps you watching but ultimately leaves you befuddled about what it is truly about. Objectification, vanity, feminism, masochistic sexual urges, these are all themes this film plays with but just can't seem to pinpoint an exact one it wants to stick with. The screenplay for this is a muddled piece of writing that lazily skates through its near two hour runtime with looks from Grey to Ana and no real dialog that is clever or even remotely interesting. The performances in this film are what keeps you watching. Jamie Dorman and Dakota Johnson are electrifying as Christian Grey and Ana, the two of them definitely took their jobs seriously here both physically and mentally and it absolutely pays off as much as it can considering the script they were working with. There's not a false note with their portrayals here but it does seem hard to judge when so much of the film relies on glares and one word answers. While Kelly Marcel tries to make the fans happy, it ends up hurting the film's chances of actually being good because there's just so much to say here regarding the characters and she ends up not saying anything, leaving us craving more of a connection with the characters that just simply wasn't done very well. One thing that is focused on more so than anything else are the sex scenes. They're intense, realistic and very personal and they remain the highlight of the film considering we learn the most about the characters when they're having an orgasm. There's only so much you can put into a movie especially if the source material is as sordid as this but Sam Taylor-Johnson doesn't disappoint when showing you the savage sexual nature of the infamous Christian Grey. These sex scenes push the boundaries of its R rating and fans of the book should be happy to hear that they can finally visualize some of the titillating details James seems to love to describe in her book. Despite the sex scenes being very well done and carefully filmed, the rest of the scenes feel lacking. Dorman and Johnson are screaming for a better script, its a real shame that Sam Taylor-Johnson and Kelly Marcel are seemingly asleep behind the wheel. Overall, 50 Shades of Grey is very well done in its look and feel but beneath the surface of it all, there isn't much going on outside its sex scenes.