Synopsis: Read on IMDB
Should you watch this movie? If you read the book and liked it, of course. If you read the book and hated it, you’ll want to watch just to check out how the movie may have actually improved on the book. If you didn’t read at all…. Maybe out of curiosity? Read along to find out.
We all know this movie is not going to win an Oscar, nor will it win all the criticts accolades for being a well-thought art house-type of production with depth and nuance. That said, I do think director Sam Taylor-Johnson and writer Kelly Marcel deserve a freaking award for turning the dialogs of an item cheesier than a pack of nacho cheese Doritos into a watchable film you can actually get through (without bursting into laughter at the mentions of “inner goddesses”, “popsicles“, or “holy cows”).
Of course, you could always argue a polished turd is still a turd and you’d be right. But this fabulously polished turd is at least packaged in a pretty little sealed bag so you can be certain none of that mess will get on you. For starters, you can rest assure the casting choice of Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, you know, the one pretty much everyone complained about, is actually pretty good. However, one of them actually shined over the two and is the one the book doesn’t paint in a great light: Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia is charming and thoughtful, and unlike the book’s Anastasia, she has an actual personality (instead of the empty shell of a woman created for the reader to swoon over Mr. Grey).
And speaking of Mr. Grey, although an undoubtly gorgeous man, Jamie Dornan fell a little flat in his performance. I’m not sure if it’s because he was trying so hard to make sure his Irish accent would come through in his lines, but there was something missing. I’d still totally go out with the guy if he’d ask. And since we are on the topic of “things missing from the movie”, the one part of the books that appealled to so many people about the story was scarce throughout the movie: the sex scenes. In all fairness, there was no way the studio would have risked an NC-17 rating (a rating also known as “box office poison) by putting too many explicit scenes. However, with 20 minutes of sex over a 2 hour period seems like the could’ve put a tad more.
All in all, this is the kind of movie that you’ll find quite nice if 1. you are a fan of romantic movies and 2. you keep your expectations low. In the worst case scenario, you’ll want to get your hands on the soundtrack. This nice little number kicked off the movie and I loved it!
Paola’s mood after watching this movie:
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