Review: Fifty Shades of Grey

Directed by: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Written by: Kelly Marcel

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle, Marcia Gay Harden

Rating: [1/5]

The level of graphicness allowed for content to be profitable in theaters still shows plenty but certainly has its limits. NC-17 becomes the dreaded rating to receive as it restricts the audience base but it allows the content Fifty Shades of Grey wants to depict. Profitability becomes the name of the game, and with the limitations, it leaves this film with the only option of being sexy through the writing rather than purely visuals. Unfortunately, the source material was never going to provide it, thus leaving every other aspect floundering. 

Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) takes the place of her college classmate to interview young billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). After some romantic sparks fly, differing opinions of their acceptance of a relationship they come to a sexual contractual agreement with Grey introducing her to his “Red Room.”

An undeniable literary sensation that has been the subject of jokes, mockery, and degradation, Fifty Shades of Grey as a film trilogy never promised to be of high quality but even with expectations on the ground, the first film entry proved to be even more disappointing. Coming into this film as someone who has never read the source material, taking in all of the nonsense in this story meant to portray a dangerously sexy agreement became laughable at first but concerning as it progressed. 

This story serves as complete wish fulfillment, with college-aged Anastasia accidentally running into a 27-year-old billionaire CEO, only further proving Chief Executive Officers should not be making so much money with the little time he actually puts into his business. A man who sits six years older but not a big enough age difference to raise eyebrows who essentially upgrades her lifestyle while providing what’s meant to be great sexual intercourse. A dream scenario for anyone wishing to be swept away from their boring life and into something exciting. Unfortunately, this film gets bogged down not only through horrible writing, but it fundamentally misunderstands the whole idea of consent. 

Consent comes forth in this film as a literal contract with what remains acceptable in their relationship, which takes away from the reality of consent being a continuous agreement that can change at a moment’s notice. Nothing needs to be contractually laid out because it should be verbally fluid, which takes away any sexy pretense from any of their sexual endeavors as it exposes Christan Grey as a horrifying sexual abuser. Looking at this character under any other circumstance would have women running away but it all gets excused because of his vast financial riches, which only allows this to be even more ghoulish. 

The sex scenes ultimately become what attracted people to this story and had the ability to be graphic in the novels but with it being a Rated R film, it can only show so much. The construction of these scenes doesn’t look too different than other sequences in erotic films. Take this revelation with the dialogue being so amateurish it makes me weep for all of the writers out there waiting for their chance to be published and witness this being turned into a movie. What value does this provide? This question dominates my headspace and it becomes difficult to think of where any value lies in this totally incoherent and sexually deprived feature. 

No matter who got cast in the feature, they were going to be left gasping for air, and the sacrificial lambs ended up being Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Certainly a big payday for them both but it became obvious from the onset that they could not elevate the junk provided to them and who really could? These roles almost beg to be delivered with a level of camp to make it entertaining but the film’s self-seriousness about its subject material just makes the whole thing laughable. Considering the track record of Johnson and Dornan following the three films of this trilogy, it further proves they were never the problem in this movie. 

The ultimate indictment of this feature comes from the realization that PG-13 films build sexual tension without showing nearly as much as Fifty Shades of Grey does. It fundamentally misunderstands the idea of consent, leaving the actors in a place where they face all the criticism for roles never intended to be of quality. A complete misfire on every level and only further provides additional reasons for why this source material has been badgered for its incompetence and the way it tries to prop up a sexual abuser as some sort of desirable figure.