‘Fifty Shades’ is risible, but Johnson as Ana is winsome

Friday, 13 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Actors Dakota Johnson (left) and Jamie Dornan arrive for the screening of the movie ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ at the 65th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin 11 February 2015 – REUTERS Reuters: ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is a laughable movie based on a cringe worthy novel that will nevertheless make pots of money and has at its core a heart of gold: actress Dakota Johnson. The film, which had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on Wednesday night and opens for the Valentine’s Day weekend, is a bankable success, having racked up record advance ticket sales in the United States and Britain. People get something for their money, if only Johnson. She plays the university literature graduate Anastasia Steele deflowered by the dominating Mr Fifty Shades of Weird industrialist Christian Grey, played by Northern Ireland’s Jamie Dornan, a bit of a cipher at least in this part of the trilogy.

Johnson, the daughter of actress Melanie Griffith in her first major feature, has a great screen presence, a winning style with the film’s often risible lines, and possibly the most photogenic set of cinema lips since Angelina Jolie. Those lips, which drive Dornan’s character to distraction, are featured in many poses, including pouting, quivering and being bitten, the last by both Johnson and Dornan. Were it not for Johnson, the film based on the trilogy of bondage and sadomasochism bestsellers by E.L. James, would be all but unwatchable. Unwatchable, except perhaps by fans of non-stop macho consumerism, including a full range of Audi cars and a top-of-the-line Apple laptop, and for the inventive soundtrack, which features everything from ‘Beast of Burden’ to Chopin. There are fetching location shots around Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and sleek interiors, but of course the main attraction – which is seen very little in this film – is Grey’s ‘Red Room of Pain’, fitted with bondage and sadomasochism whips and other sex toys, where he wants to make Anastasia his ‘submissive’. The books have millions of fans, and their sales, plus the launch of the movie, have given sex toy sales a boost. But for the legions of women – and ‘Fifty Shades’ is almost exclusively a female phenomenon – who could not get past page 50, they should know that some of the most cringe worthy features of the book, including Anastasia’s cheerleader ‘inner goddess’ who goads her to go deeper and deeper with the messed-up Grey, are absent. That does not mean, however, that the dialogue, or the clumsy plotting, which drove book critics to distraction, have been upgraded to first class in the script by Kelly Marcel and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, although they may now be in premium economy.

Box Office: ‘Fifty Shades’ eyes Valentine’s Day weekend record

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com): ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is about to bring sadomasochism into the mainstream when it cracks the whip on what is shaping up to be the biggest Valentine’s Day weekend release in history. The adaptation of E.L. James’ kinky story about a college student and the brooding billionaire who introduces her to pleasures of the cuff and the gag will heat up 3,645 North American theatres. It will dominate the competition to the tune of at least $ 50 million. At least that’s what Universal and Focus Features, the companies behind the erotic romance, are saying. Other analysts and rivals peg the debut in the $ 70 million-$ 80 million range. If that figure holds, it will easily trump ‘Valentine’s Day’, the ensemble romantic comedy that made $ 63 million when it debuted in 2010, as the top-grossing Valentine’s weekend release and set a new benchmark for Presidents Day weekend debuts. It’s hard to get an accurate read on how massive the film could be. Universal is quick to point out that there aren’t many parallels for a sexually charged film like ‘Fifty Shades’. For the most part, eroticism has been absent on the big screen since its heyday with the likes of ‘Basic Instinct’, ‘Fatal Attraction’ and ‘Disclosure’. But ‘Fifty Shades’ is less like one of those films, which skewed toward men and essentially updated the femme fatale genre of the 1940s, while showing a whole lot more leg. ‘Fifty Shades’ is more akin to ‘Magic Mike’ or ‘Sex and the City’, which became ‘girls night’ out events. Pre-sales for the film have sizzled, with Fifty Shades shattering records as the top Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day weekend release of all time, according to Fandango. It’s also on pace to be the online ticketer’s fourth biggest selling film in history, behind ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’. MovieTickets.com reports that Fifty Shades is its top seller, accounting for 75% of all tickets sold by the company in the last 24 hours. ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ isn’t the weekend’s only new release skewed at adults. ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’, a tongue-in-cheek, R-rated action adventure, should scoop up those men strong enough to resist a trip to the red room with their significant others. The film about an elite spy organisation, directed by ‘X-Men: First Class’ helmer Matthew Vaughn and starring Colin Firth and Samuel L. Jackson, should bring in more than $ 30 million when it debuts across 3,204 locations. ‘Kingsman’ cost approximately $ 80 million to produce and has already opened in several foreign markets such as the UK and Australia, where it’s racked up $ 17.7 million.