(Watch their expressions.) It's off-putting and breaks the fantasy almost as thoroughly as recognizing what Fifty Shades of Grey is actually selling. During a bathtub scene when Johnson reclines against Dornan, there's a palpable sense of discomfort - as if neither of them wants to be there.
The chilliness between the actors speaks less of obsession, adoration, or love than it does of indifference. Chemistry might be an overrated term but there's no heat or combustibility evident here. There's nothing arousing about Johnson and Dornan's clothes-free acrobatics. We see all of Dakota Johnson and most of Jamie Dornan, but director Sam Taylor-Johnson's approach is sterile and clinical. It's no secret that Fifty Shades of Grey achieved its notoriety because of its supposedly-steamy sex scenes and, although they have been tamed and shortened in the film to avoid the dreaded NC-17, they remain in the forefront (at least following a generic "meet cute" 45-minute lead-up). It reminds me of General Hospital in the late 1970s/early 1980s when Luke's rape of Laura became referred to as a "mutual seduction." It's supposedly about Anastasia's development as a person but the movie steers clear of examining the psychological damage being done to her along the way.
This is a warped relationship from the start but the filmmakers seem blithely unaware of the dark territory into which they have stumbled and insist this is healthy erotica. The interaction between sweet Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and cold Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) isn't kinky it's twisted. However, when one is a narcissist control freak and the other is merely looking for a "normal" relationship, things can turn physically and emotionally abusive - which is precisely what happens in Fifty Shades of Grey. When the participants in a BDSM relationship are well-matched (a dom and a sub), it can be rewarding for both. Its window into the world of BDSM (Bondage & Discipline, Dominance & Submission, Sadism & Masochism) is idealized but there's a disturbing aspect to this fantasy. That's pretty much the entirety of what Fifty Shades of Grey has to offer. Seen from that perspective, one can perhaps defend Fifty Shades of Grey as something more than an overlong, repetitive, unsatisfying drama about a physically and emotionally abusive love affair.įor most movies, a one or two sentence synopsis does a disservice - not so for Fifty Shades of Grey, which is so plot-deficient that its essence can be captured easily in a 140-character tweet: Shy college girl meets kinky rich dude who attempts to manipulate her into becoming a submissive to his dominant. After all, this movie is effectively a visual representation of one of the most common female fantasies (the so-called "rape fantasy"). Who would have imagined that a movie about sex could be so boring? That's the bottom line when it comes to Fifty Shades of Grey, although I'm perfectly willing to admit that this could be one of those films where the "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" effect comes into play.