When Johnson’s Anastasia Steele straddles the lap of Dornan’s Christian Grey while he is seated on a piano bench (with all of his mournful nocturnal ivory tickling, it’s as if De Sade and the Phantom of the Opera had a child together), he manages to use his bent arms like a forklift under her shapely behind, pick her up with ease and whisk her back into the boudoir.Įventually we learn that instead of dating, Christian likes to recruit young women like Ana as submissives who willingly yield to his preferred brand of discipline in his high-rise home’s well-stocked hideaway, infamously known as the Red Room of Pain. There is, however, one move that did make an impression on me. Before you argue otherwise, consider that 2011’s highly explicit “Shame” barely grossed under $18 million worldwide even though a gorgeous specimen like Michael Fassbender proudly flashed his shillelagh every chance he got. The thinking behind this choice is likely that the majority of the millions of women who bought the pop-lit phenomenon would rather revel in the romantic fantasy of a brainy lass trying to tame a broken man than fixate on the sight of male genitalia in the flesh (especially since “Fifty Shades” is showing on a bunch of IMAX screens). Basically, the only body parts allowed to be erect are Johnson’s nipples, which are on display so much they probably required their own SAG cards. That is, much like the Ken doll he resembles, Doran’s manhood is kept discreetly hidden save for one fleeting and hardly revealing crotch-cam shot. One, two, three, gasp.Ĭould you guess that, despite her name, director Sam Taylor-Johnson is a woman? Yes, if only for the most telling and perhaps wisest omission. A wisp of pubic hair here, a butt shot there, arch that back, thrust those hips.
I much prefer the one in “ Ida,” Poland’s foreign-language Oscar contender, between a nun-in-training and a hot saxophone player (is there any other kind?) than the hype-escalated glossy bedroom encounter between a lip-biting virgin with a 4.0 GPA and her control-freak billionaire in “Fifty Shades.”ĭespite the admirable efforts of Dakota Johnson, who happily has inherited much of mom Melanie Griffith’s minx-like mystique, and Jamie Dornan, who as acquaintances tell me played an incredibly attractive serial killer in the cult TV show “ The Fall,” there is always a sense of every erotic moment being choreographed by committee.
But for some reason he can't control himself any moment she bites down on her lip. Before you know it, Christian's showing up at Ana's place of employment, sending her expensive presents (first-edition copies of books by her favorite author and a new MacBook), getting jealous of other men in her life, and taking her for helicopter rides.That is, unless you wanted to learn how to re-purpose that peacock feather that has been lying around the house.Ĭonsider the deflowering scene. She's a plain Jane, has no plans for her future after college, and she's clumsy. Naturally, Christian is actually pretty into Ana, too. She stutters as she speaks, and his calm but stern temperament makes her heartbeat start to race. He makes her flush with nervousness as she fidgets with her tape recorder. Instead, Anastasia, who goes by Ana, is just conveniently filling in for her sick roommate who was supposed to do the interview.įrom the moment the two meet, Ana is pretty smitten with Christian. Before graduation, she interviews the mysterious and eligible billionaire bachelor Christian Grey for her school's paper. James' erotica novel is written from the perspective of college student Anastasia Steele. Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Studios and Focus FeaturesĮ.L.