Better than the book, but that isn't saying much...

Rating: 4/10 (13 February 2015)

I went into this with fairly low expectations. I have read all three of the books, the first one was passable, by the second and third the writing was so awful that it was laughable.
The two main characters are cast pretty well, there was some chemistry which worked for the most part aside from when they were in the bedroom or playroom.
The sex scenes are almost cringe worthy and somewhat lacking given the premise. It didn't help that the audience of the cinema was nearly all comprised of middle aged women (acting like a bunch of annoying teenagers) who were there on a girl's night out.
The supporting characters are shockingly one dimensional. Ana's flatmate is as close to a 'real' person but even she is woefully lacking.
Mercifully the film has skipped over / cut out a lot of the far more annoying bits of the novel but it doesn't really seem to get off the ground.
There are quite a few lines delivered in the film which the audience interpreted as humour, but I doubt they were all intended that way.
Not bad for a film that has origins of Twilight fan faction, but I don't think I'll be rushing out to see the second and third adaptations. At least, not on opening night. I have already promised my other half that I will under no circumstances make him sit through those too.
5/10 for effort, (it should really be a 4.5). Most of that is for the soundtrack and a nod to the director who managed to make a not utterly terrible film given the source material.