A domineering businessman charms a bright-eyed college graduate with his riches and aloofness, but there’s more to Christian Grey than you think. Or is there? No.
Despite the book’s risqué reputation, this adaptation tells a dull as dishwater love story. It’s not unlike one of those Judd Apatow comedies in which a woman must change a defective fella for the better. In this case replace the carefree stoner with a joyless businessman and have his vice be bondage rather than bongs and you’ll get the idea.
This is a film that is surprisingly generic, with the frequent bondage and sex sequences doing little to distinguish Fifty Shades from its contemporaries. The sex itself is also unremarkable: the camera frequently cuts around the action chasing a lower ratings certificate, but also playing into a general feeling of embarrassment about the material. It all feels a little juvenile.
This is a movie that acts hardcore when it’s barely soft porn, never penetrating nor doing anything to really raise the audience’s heart-rate.
Words: Luke Maxwell
