Does anybody really expect “Fifty Shades of Grey” to be a great movie? I doubt it. “Fifty Shades” arrives in time for Valentine’s Day. Based on the book about a young virgin, just out of college who meets and captivates (or at least interests) a late 20′s billionaire named Christian Grey. They meet cute, when she shows up at his office to interview him for her school paper. He responds by coming to her college campus and - well gee, I guess there’s no other way to state it - stalking her. Soon he flies her to the big city for dinner in his apartment. As part of the visit, he gives her a peek at his Red Room of Pain. Christian is into S&M - so long as he’s the dominator, and his partner is a submissive. What follows is dating, sex and a contract negotiation, spelling out what he can and can’t do to her (if she’ll only let me practice his kinky stuff on her.) Jamie Dornan looks good, in a Canadian kind of way. Dakota Johnson starts the movie de-glamorized and actually is kind of funny as the star-struck young girl. As she grows into her desire for Christian, she gets more done-up; and as an actress, she’s not bad. Even thought she spends half the movie without any clothes, I came away remembering her beautiful eyes. However, “Fifty Shades” rarely rises above feeling just a little creepy. Once the couple starts having sex, the scenes are quite soft and go to great lengths to avoid any full frontal shots. I’ve seen more in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. The film has a female director (Sam Taylor-Johnson) and a female script writer (Kelly Marcel) so I guess you can’t call it sexist. What you probably will call it, is extremely disappointing. The book ends with a cliff hanger. The book’s ending stuck onto this movie, drew howls from a preview audience. I hear they have two more of these in the works. I think I’ll pass. Does it deliver what it promises? Soft porn movie of a spicy book. Is it entertaining? Slow, and not very exciting. Is it worth the price of admission? For those who read the book and can’t keep themselves away, but for others... nah.
