Fifty Shades of Grey is now out in the
theaters and it’s quite an R movie. I’ve also seen reviews calling it Fifty
Shades of Boring. I wouldn’t go that far. The first book in the trilogy by
E.L.James was horribly written. I read it out of curiousity and figured the
movie had to be better. It stars Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey – a fine
specimen of a man. Dakota Johnson (daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie
Griffith) plays Anastasia Steele. She’s a pretty girl, but a bit stiff –
hopefully she can buy some acting lessons with her paycheck.
A brief premise. Christian Grey is the billionaire young man
in Seattle who lives in fabulous locations, flies his own helicopter, has tons
of cars, is great looking, can play the piano, etc – the full composite of any
fantasy. (Remember this is a movie, folks. Yes in real life we want the guy who
can change the oil in the car, can grill a steak, and picks his clothes off the
floor) However, Christian has “issues”. Eh, nobody’s perfect. He was born to a
crack addict prostitute and treated badly until he was adopted at age four by
the Greys. His issues manifest themselves in his naughty playroom for nighttime
activity. We shall be circumspect in our descriptions for this review.
Anastasia is a new college graduate and a virginal beauty in
her prime, with no idea of her allure. Christian wants her, but there are
contracts to be signed. Ana learns about this whole new world, and questions
it. There has been a big uproar for the books and the movie from folks
protesting on behalf of women. I can see some points, but Ana is a consenting
adult and has choices. She can and does say no at different plot points.
All in all, not a lot really happens in Fifty Shades
and some stuff is giggle worthy. The movie is better than the book, but just
watch with low expectations. This is a filler movie for February. The trailer
they showed late last year was HOT, and the soundtrack is actually rather good
– it opens with Annie Lennox singing “I Put a Spell on You”.
It’s
February - the sky outside is fifty shades of bleak. You can warm up in a movie
theater and kill two hours with pretty people and great skyline shots of
Seattle, or start working on your taxes.
