There's a lot to like... A lot to dislike... Not the worst movie ever... Overall, very disappointed.

Rating: 5/10 (24 February 2015)

I finally saw the movie on 02.20.15. I purposely chose NOT to relive the book before seeing the movie as that particular mishap led to my dissatisfaction with Twilight. I found that after rewatching Twilight I enjoyed it more than the first viewing, though still consider it the best book and worst movie with the Twilight Series.
So there we were. It was my wife and I. My wife read all 3 books multiple times and was LESS interested in seeing the movie than I was.
Now, I am a movie guy, movie buff, whatever you want to call it. I have nearly 500 DVD/BluRay movies that are all store bought. I grew up with a father who loved movies and we spent countless hours, together, watching movies... all kinds of movies. Drama, Horror, Comedy, Scifi, Classics, Low Budget Indies... all kinds of movies.
I was put off the moment the movie started because one of the first things you see... is Christian Grey. Not close up parts of the man, you see him. This put me off because as a movie fan and watcher of countless movies, I knew from a cinematic standpoint that an egregious error had been made to show him. More on that later...
So we finally get the main character, Ana. I was not a huge fan of Dakota Johnson's casting. Seeing the magazine photos, the trailers, nothing made me feel better about her as Ana. But I will tell you...
Over the course of the movie, I came to thoroughly enjoy her PERFORMANCE as Ana but still feel that she's not a great FIT as Ana.
So we're treated to the opening. So far it's pretty faithful to the book, I feel a little better. I know the interview is coming and know from reading the book how crucial a scene it is.
I was put off again because I felt that getting to the interview was rushed... In the book there's a gradual build up and as you read the words you totally understand that this young woman is getting into something so much bigger than she is and is about to jump in the deep end.
In the movie, you see Christian. You see Ana. You get a brief scene of Ana interacting with Kate. She's at the Grey House. She's in the interview. It was rushed.
Now, the interview is such a critical scene and I feel like they totally MISSED on the scene.
You get next to no impact of the big "reveal" of Christian from Ana's point of view. The entire start of the movie was a rush to get there and it felt like it was forced and rushed to get it done.
The "reveal." The book is told from Ana's POV. The first time she sees him, we see him. We see him through her eyes. Cinematically, we've already seen him. When she fell and he gave the god-awful look over the shoulder, the impact of that moment is lost. Let's go back in time...
Remember Twilight? In the book, Bella first sees him as he enters the lunchroom. They recreated that in the movie... and guess what, it worked! The first time the movie viewer sees Edward is the same time the main character sees him so you experience that impact together on the same level, cinematically.
I don't know why they chose to do it that way in FSOG but the interview stumbled from the start, just as Ana did going into the office.
So... by now you probably think I hate the movie and everything in it? No, actually.
There's A LOT to like in the movie, but it's counterbalanced by the bad stuff.
Please read the full review on my blog: http://50shadescastingblog.blogspot.com/