Fifty Shades of Grey

Rating: 4/10 (22 February 2015)

The racy novel by E.L. James, the first in a trilogy of books, became a phenomenon in 2012, I read most of the first few chapters myself, I laughed at how both naive and so bad it's good it was, I knew a movie adaptation was going to be a big talking point, so I had to see it, from Razzie nominated director Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy). Basically Vancouver college undergraduate Anastasia "Ana" Steele (Razzie winning Dakota Johnson) shares an apartment with best friend and roommate Katherine "Kate" Kavanagh (Eloise Mumford), when Kate becomes ill she agrees to step in and, for the college newspaper, interview young corporate executive Christian Grey (The Fall's Razzie winning Jamie Dornan), head of his own company in Seattle, during their meeting he appears to show an interest in her. Later Ana is working part-time as usual at the hardware store and Christian appears to arrive "accidentally", he is buying cable ties, duct tape and rope, they engage in some small talk, during which he agrees participate in a photo shoot for some original stills for the college newspaper article, during which Christian continues to show interest in Ana. They have a coffee together where they can talk some more, impressed by Ana and learning her interest in literature he arranges to have first editions of Tess of the d'Urbervilles sent to her home, on the same day Ana goes out drinking with her friends, she calls Christian in a drunken state, he senses her being drunk, with her not telling him where she is he says he will come to get her, before passing out Ana sees Kate flirting with Christian's brother Elliot (Luke Grimes), and Ana wakes up in Christian's hotel, she is relieved to find that they did not have sex. They may have had an awkward start, but Christian and Ana share a passionate kiss in the elevator, and they start dating afterwards, one of which he explains that he does want to be with her, but he has "particular tastes" and wants her to sign a non-disclosure agreement contract, regarding their relationship, he has an interest in a subculture relationship with Ana involving controlled bondage, she is shown his "play room", i.e. The Red Room, filled with bondage devices and tools. It is at this point though that Ana reveals her true naivety to sex, she is a virgin, so Christian takes her to the bedroom and slowly undresses her, they have sex and sex is no longer a virgin, enlightened she is intrigued by this relationship agreement, so he tells her to take the contract with her to read carefully, it details the roles of the "submissive" and the "dominant", dietary and physical conditions, sleeping arrangements, and much more, she may ask questions about aspects, and he says he will only do what she agrees to. Christian and Ana do have a business like meeting to discuss conditions in the contract, he says he will allow her the decision of occasional couple dates, e.g. dinner, movies, and she goes through sexual acts she will not allow, to which he crosses them out, and the following few days Christian showers her with gifts and favours, including a new laptop to email him, and a new car, and although she has not signed the agreement he continues to carry out sexual experimentation. Keeping up the casual aspect of their relationship Ana goes for dinner to Christian adoptive family, father Carrick (Andrew Airlie), mother Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey (Marcia Gay Harden) and sister Mia (singer Rita Ora), during the dinner Ana reveals she is leaving soon to visit her mother Carla (Jennifer Ehle) in Georgia, Christian is angry and Ana wants a romantic relationship more than just sexual, she leaves and does go to see her mother, but she is shocked when he surprises her while they are drinking together, the next morning he takes her gliding, before he has to leave for an emergency in Seattle. Soon after arriving home Ana continues to see Christian, she is initially consenting and participates in his further sexual experimentation, however he continues to be distant emotionally which upsets her, Ana asks Christian to show her what he really wants, so they have an encounter involving rough sex. Ana sees this as disturbing and not within the bounds of her romantic expectations of Christian, she becomes resolved that he is not the right man for her and that his experimentation borders on being deviant and excessive, in the end at her insistence Ana and Christian part company in the hallway outside his apartment, uttering only each other's names as the doors to the elevator close. Also starring Victor Rasuk as José Rodriguez, Callum Keith Rennie as Ray Steele and Dylan Neal as Bob Adams. Johnson is reasonable as the beautiful and innocent girl who wants to find love in the S&M obsessed man, Dornan is just about suited as the mysterious rich man with dark sexual interests, the pair do make an intriguing enough couple, I agree with the mixed reviews, I was expecting more sadomasochism than there was, there are a fair amount of arousing sex scenes, starting with the sweet virginity losing scene through to being tied up and blindfolded, but I agree the most filthy scene is the two discussing sexual stuff in the contract, there is somewhat of a love story aside the S&M stuff, it may have been laughably cheesy and tame, but like the book you cannot help but sort of like it, it may have swept the Golden Raspberry Awards, but it's not such a bad erotic romantic drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Earned It" by The Weeknd, it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Love Me Like You Do" by Ellie Goulding, and it won the Razzies for Worst Picture (tied with Fantastic Four), Worst Screen Combo for Dornan and Johnson and Worst Screenplay. Okay!