Fifty Shades of Grey Review

By SARAH DARIAN

With over 100 million copies of books sold, and over 250 million trailer views, Fifty Shades of Grey made the biggest opening ever for a film on the combined Valentine’s Day and President’s Day weekend for an earning of $85 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

This first part of the film, based on the Fifty Shades trilogy written by British author E.L. James, was released two nights before Valentine’s Day, where tickets were completely sold out at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus. Fifty Shades of Grey is brought out as R-rated and fell under the “Drama/Romance” category, with an airing time of two hours and five minutes.

Robert Lopez, 21, of Paterson, was dragged along by his girlfriend to go see this film. “I didn’t read the book but there was something that was really bothering me the entire time. How is this Christian Grey character a billionaire? The movie didn’t go into much detail about what he does so the entire concept seemed unrealistic to me,” Lopez says.

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him.

Corresponding to E.L. James’ novel, I give this film an A+ for the accuracy of the script. Although the screenplay was spot on with the book, the actors chosen for the movie did not fulfill my expectations of who “Christian Grey” and “Anastasia Steele” really are. On behalf of their acting, I give them a low D, but I appreciate their effort.

While the characters in James’ book was extremely difficult to portray for a film, Jamie Dorman who stars as Mr. Grey and Dakota Johnson who plays Ms. Steele were definitely not the right choice of actors. Their performances lacked a sexual chemistry, which was mandatory for an erotic romance film like Fifty Shades. Most of the times when they were together seemed exceedingly rehearsed and awkwardly forced, which took away the representation of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.

Dominique Del Tufo, 21, of Nutley, is one of many who read the novel before seeing the film. “I absolutely loved the book, it made my mind very imaginative,” she says.

“I agree the film’s script matched exactly with the film, but the actors chosen didn’t enliven the book. A part of me wishes that I didn’t watch this movie because I really think it takes away from book,” Del Tufo adds.

The ending of the film led the audience into a giant cliffhanger. Despite the fact that the actors were mediocre at exemplifying their characters, not knowing what will happen next until you watch the next film is the best way to bring your audience back.

Daniela Orfaly, 21, of Hackensack, admitted that she desired knowledge about the second part of the trilogy. “When the credits came on I literally stood up and screamed WHAT?!,” she says.

“It was like the ending wasn’t really the ending, and movies like that is what makes us come back wanting more,” Orfaly adds.