Laura and Lauren's Review of Fifty Shades of Grey (The Movie)!

What I Loved

      

            This review is going to be a little different because it’s a movie and we all obviously know the synopsis of Fifty Shades of Grey so why bother putting that in.  First off, I know this may sound stupid or snobby but I went into this movie with low expectations.  I had probably the same amount of excitement I had when I saw a Twilight movie, but knew I wasn’t going for the acting.  I love you Robert Pattinson, but there is so only so much magic you can spin with a story line like that. 

          I must say though I was pleasantly surprised, and I walked out with a smile on my face.  I’ve been a fan of Dakota Johnson’s since Ben & Kate (I’m still pissed they cancelled that show) so it was great to see her again and the same goes for Jamie Dornan (I’m still mad they killed him off Once Upon a Time).  I felt like Dakota Johnson was the better actor in the movie though.  I remember reading the book and understanding Ana’s frustration with Christian when it came to his unwillingness to compromise in their relationship.  But after watching the movie I actually felt her frustration for wanting a normal relationship with the man she fell in love with.  Dakota portrayed that part of Ana really well, and at the end my heart broke for her all over again.

          The sex scenes were a lot more sensual then I thought they would be and actually more graphic.  I guess since there was so much talk about them taming down the movie compared to the book I felt like their sex scenes were be more typical rated R, meaning not sexual at all just kind of naked from the waste up but not see anything really and them just kind of staring into each other’s why while clearly faking it.  I was totally wrong because Dakota Johnson is naked in this movie so much that at a certain point I was over seeing her boobs.  I definitely felt like when it came to their sex scenes there was tons of chemistry between the two and was more sexually and sensually charged then I expected.  If I had to pick my favorite sex scene in the movie it would be the first one it was very sensual and was probably the longest one in the movie.

Not So Much

          Like I said before I felt like Dakota Johnson was the better actor, and it took me a while to warm up to Jamie Dornan.  Now a part of me feels that because Christian by nature is more stoic, whereas Ana had more range, that Jamie Dornan came off as lesser of the actors because that’s the character he’s portraying.  But at the very beginning of the movie when they first meet, I did kind of feel like  Jamie Dornan was just saying his lines, that there wasn’t any acting between behind them, but as the movie moved on I warmed up to him more and more. 

          I love Christian and Ana a lot and I get that this a movie so you can’t go into detail like you can in the book, but I felt like the background characters weren’t really part of the movie they were just passing through.  Especially when it came to Christian’s family and Jose.  I felt like Jose was put into the movie just because he’s in the books and fans would be pissed he wasn’t included, his character just didn’t really lend anything to the overall plot because of the things they cut from the book.  I felt the same about Christian’s family as well, Christian’s sister Mia is in about two minutes and she’s never even mentioned again.  I get that even in the first book these people didn’t have big roles in the story, but I did feel like they had purpose.  While watching the movie I felt like none of these secondary characters had any purpose. 

To Sum It All Up!

          Overall, the movie was better than I expected, but like I said I went into this with low expectations.  I have always loved Christian and Ana and they will hold a special place in my heart much like this movie will and I can’t wait to see if they make the Fifty Shades Darker movie and how that will play out on screen.  I did feel like this movie pandered way too much towards people who have read the book. Obviously this movie would not have been made if they books weren’t so darn popular but that doesn’t mean you should skimp out on character development and details that were missing in the movie. I completely understand you can’t fit everything in a movie from the books and I’m not expecting that, but I feel like if I went to watch this movie with someone who has never read the books I would have to explain things to them because they would be lost otherwise.  Jamie Dornan isn’t who I pictured as Christian Grey, and although that’s a little annoying, there is no human on earth that would fulfill every single reader’s requirements of who they pictured as Christian.  I do wish his character was a little bit more imposing and scary though, Christian was more emotional and angry at times in the book that just didn’t come across in the movie.  Yes, there isn’t as much BDSM in the movie as there is in the book, but let’s remember these books barely skim the surface in the first one of what BDSM entails.  Christian and Ana get more into it as their relationship develops and after everything is said and done this series a romance and to me it’s more important to show the romance than the spanking (don’t worry there is spanking in the movie!).  Book two was always my favorite book in this series so I’m excited to see what happens next in this franchise and pray they get to making that movie sooner rather than later.
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Lauren's  Review

Saturday morning I got in my car and drove to meet my fellow blogger, Laura, for the first viewing of Fifty Shades of Grey.  It was finally here. The day I have been waiting for.  I tried to go into the theater with zero expectations.  With an “R” rating, I questioned just how good this interpretation was going to be.  Plus, my feelings for this movie have been all over the place ever since Charlie Hunnam decided to let go of the role.  To me, he was my ideal actor to play Christian Grey so it was hard for me to accept Jamie Dornan.  So Laura and I got comfy in our recliner movie seats and tried our best to remain open-minded about this movie.

What I Loved

Dakota Johnson. She blew me away and I think she nailed Anastasia Steel.  From her awkwardness with her interview with Christian to her drunken phone call to him at the bar, Dakota portrayed Ana perfectly. Even her little giggles and laughs had me believing her character.  Everything about this movie, I felt that she was the most impressive. I have never seen her act in anything before this movie but major kudos to her for becoming Miss Anastasia Steel. Even my husband, who never read the book, enjoyed her performance.

The Sex. Holy hotness! I was not expecting all of that. I was wondering just how far they could go with the sex and I was not disappointed. One of my favorite scenes was when Christian comes to Ana’s apartment after she sends him an email saying it was nice to know you. There is a moment when he flips her over and I got goose bumps all over. I thought the scenes were tasteful and well done. The scenes were steamy and even the music choice helped add to it.  And yes, I’d like to bite that lip too!

The Elevators.  I loved their first interaction in the elevator. You can feel that uncontrollable desire where Christian growls, “Fuck the paperwork…” and grabs Ana in the elevator.  I thought it was clever how the movie begins with Ana in the elevator after her interview with Christian and it ends the same way. I couldn’t help but notice the moans of frustration from non-readers when the movie ended that way.

Not So Much

Jamie Dornan.  This is hard for me because I don’t like to be negative so I am going to start off by saying I give him a lot of credit for taking the role of Christian Grey. When the book was just a rumor about becoming a movie, women everywhere were suggesting who they felt should play Christian Grey.  With that being said, he was not my favorite. I think he had good chemistry with Dakota but I feel like he fell short. To play Christian Grey, I was expecting someone more demanding and commanding and Jamie did portray that for me. In my head, Christian was a tougher guy, maybe bigger in shape. Don’t get me wrong, Jamie looks delicious in those suits he wore and he killed it in those low jeans with his “V” looking scrumptious.  Some of his facial expressions were off for me though. Instead of looking intimating, he looked more psychotic. Also, there were times where he looked funny when he was talking. I don’t know if it was because of his accent, but that bothered me a little.

The Little Stuff. There were some little things that got on my nerves and here we go…  

When do you ever get a parking spot right in front of a building in the city?

Why did Ana wear the same flats with every outfit?  

Why did Dakota arch her back and stick out her ribs for every sex scene?

Why did she ask for a pencil when she never used it to write but only to bring attention to her mouth?

Why was Ana’s cell phone a flip phone?

Why didn’t Dakota shave her legs for the first sex scene?

Secondary Characters. Was anyone else in this movie besides Ana and Christian?? I think the writers were so wrapped up with them, they forgot to develop the other characters. The only character that was somewhat involved was Kate and I feel like that got her all wrong. She came across as self absorbed and obnoxious. Everyone else just seemed to be there because they were in the book.  It would have been nice to see more with Jose and the other characters.

Overall, I highly recommend that you see the movie, especially if you read the books.  They keep to the book for the most part.  I really enjoyed the movie and thought they did a great job interpreting the book to the film. I am excited to see the next installment.  

If you haven't read the Fifty Shades of Grey- Here is the link to purchase all three on Amazon!