TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion
…because
film is largely subjective
by Frederick William Springer
III
50 Shades of Grey
Release Date: 13 February 2015 Runtime: 125 Minutes
Review Date: 29 March 2015 Rating: 4 (of 6)
Also, movies usually
have climaxes and even mini-crescendos, tension and anticipation building,
drawing in the audience and getting them involved. This film is rather even-keeled, just is,
droning on, no highs or lows, towing the middle for 2 hours.
Speaking of
climaxes and lack thereof, one of the main parts of the book is Anastasia
Steele's sexual awakening. Yet on film,
not once is she seen or heard having an orgasm.
Which brings us
to how the movie fares as an adaptation.
Anastasia's orgasms and her sexual anticipations, in general, were a
HUGE part of the novel so their absence here is felt and mystifying. (Additionally, she is a very inexperienced
virgin who is overwhelmed by how big she perceives Grey's penis, it mentioned
several times over the course of the novel and not mentioned at all here.) The movie also downplays Christian Grey's
overwhelmingly controlling personality.
In the book, he's constantly hounding Anastasia to eat and her diet is
part of the contract he presents. It's a
point of contention, going back and forth throughout. His gifts usually demonstrate his controlling
nature as well but in the movie they are also glossed over.
In the novel,
when Grey discovers her mode of transportation he, over-reacting, freaks out
and insists she not drive her Volkswagen Beetle. They argue about it. Then he goes ahead and gets her a new car
anyway, the argument continuing when he goes behind her back against her
wishes. Here, he just buys her a car as
a graduation gift with little protest.
In the novel, Grey makes Anastasia so confused and unhappy that she
cries and cries, prompting her to go visit her mother across the continent to
get away from him. Here, there's no
upset, she just, out of nowhere, decides she's going on the trip. And, in the novel, while there, she starts
drunk texting Grey, causing him, to once again, admonish her for drinking
before the reveal that he is there, too.
Here, there's no drunken back-and-forth, just an "another
Cosmo?" to serve as his suave introduction of being on the premises.
The other major
problem on the adaptation level is the casting, all the way around. Grey is pretty much supposed to be the living
embodiment of Adonis--it's not just a character flaw of Anastasia, the whole
female population melts over this guy's looks.
While I don't think Jamie Dornan is a bad looking guy, he falls far
short of his counterpart's description.
Anastasia is supposed to be an attractive girl who doesn't realize her
own beauty, uncomfortable in her own skin--imagine Rachel Leigh Cook's
character in She's All That. Sorry, Dakota Johnson, your portrayal is that
of an average Plain Jane, far missing the mark.
Her roommate and best friend Kate is supposed to be quite the looker,
someone you might expect to find on the arm of someone like Grey to compliment
his perfection. Here Eloise Mumford is
little better than average herself.
Overall, though,
other than these sticking points, as an adaptation 50 Shades of Grey is actually quite faithful. Taking a 500 page novel and condensing it to
2 hours is not always an easy feat but is nicely done in this case by Kelly
Marcel. The other cuts were probably a
good thing, a lot of her internalized thinking that can't be shown on screen,
her incessant and annoying "oh mys", her talks with her "inner
goddess", her confounded repeated reference to her genitals as "my
sex"--I get the character is studying English Lit and maybe she thinks
using that phrase makes her sound sophisticated, but what American woman uses
that? She'd say pussy, plain and
simple. Vagina if she was uptight. Cunt if she was a little vulgar. Lips or clit.
But not "my sex".
I had caught
headlines that mentioned a problem with the ending of the film and I can attest
there were those in my viewing audience that found it problematic, too, but I
wasn't one of them. It's abrupt to be
sure, but it is a final solid conclusion.
And, pretty spot on with the book, so kudos. I guess those making a stink didn't actually
read the novel and it came as a surprise.
For my part, I
wouldn't necessarily recommend the novel.
I had no inclination to read it myself but knowing that my girlfriend would
eventually drag me to this movie, I opted to be versed in the source material. After the annoyances I mentioned 2 paragraphs
back, I had no desire to continue the trilogy and that feeling crosses over to
the cinematic world should they move forward with future films. (And, who are we kidding?, the vampires will
milk it for all they can...)
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