Movie Review: 5o Shades of Grey

50 Shades of better than I thought…

Yes, I saw it. No, I am not going to bash it.  I only managed to finish the first book in the series and being an erotica writer I have been in discussions with many whose comments have run the gamut from ‘pure garbage’ to ‘a fabulous read’.  

 The book was readable, but I did not find it written in a style that suited my tastes.  While the hype continued to build my thoughts headed down the path of what this exposure will do for the erotica genre. Certainly bringing erotica in to the main stream has been a positive for the genre itself. Many authors I know have realized increased sales as hungry readers searched for more.

Being a film junkie I had to go see 50 Shades of Grey, besides, I love ‘bad’ movies. B movies, chick flicks, anything to turn my brain off for a couple of hours.

At first I thought, Jamie Dornan is an jerk and Dakota Johnson doesn't have much to offer. It seemed almost as though they were phoning in the acting. Once the rhythm of the movie and I were in sync however, I realized they were acting exactly as the characters had been written. I know that seems obvious, but I had never been to a film for the sole purpose of reviewing before and I was paying attention in a different way. It is a fine line, a shade of grey-if you will- but I have seen worse performances many times.

Will it be remembered as a great film? Probably not. Was it pleasant enough to sit through and enjoy? Definitely, but I am guessing that what you really want to know was if I found it was erotic. Short answer, yes.  Where the book was long and embellished with extraneous dialogue and description, the movie was succinct and well- paced. Cutting quickly from scene to scene moved the picture along seamlessly and added urgency. The build up to the sex was better than the scenes themselves, but the tension helped to also intensify the somewhat skimmed over BDSM scenes in the film. The crack of his hand on her exposed bottom, the sound of the leather slapping her skin, the ropes slipping through the loops- this was what I found the most erotic. Not 9 ½ Weeks erotic, but more for the Twilight set erotic. 

In the end it was just about two people involved in a complicated, messy relationship.The classic romance formula with a little twist.  

When the film ended quite dramatically, I too, sighed along with the women seated behind me. Will I bother with the sequel? Maybe not. Will I watch again? Probably. Am I sick to death of hearing about it all? Absolutely, but when the lights went up and the only other people (3 women who sat directly behind me) starting talking, I hung back to eavesdrop. I‘d heard them gasp a few times during the film and was curious as to their take. They immediately started discussing the books! How they loved them, sneaking reading time at work, looking for more. My first instinct was to tell them what I do, but instead I just smiled knowingly and left. I didn’t want to be ‘the writer,’ I didn’t want to be ‘on,’ I just wanted to enjoy the post movie afterglow and the fact that somehow, through all of this, it has encouraged so many people to read again. And that, is a very good thing indeed.