Sister Rose Movies
God bless John Mulderig, the film reviewer for Catholic News Service, for reviewing this film, saving me time, money and, well, read the review.
NEW YORK (CNS) — “Lifestyles of the Rich and Perverse” might be a more fitting title for the unusually explicit bedroom drama “Fifty Shades of Grey” (Universal).
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s adaptation of the first volume in a trilogy of novels by E.L. James — which features a modern-day Marquis de Sade as its male protagonist — has a pornographically narrow focus and a potentially dangerous message.
James, whose real name is Erika Mitchell, has apparently captured the imaginations of bored housewives everywhere by tracing the unlikely romance between socially awkward college student Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and intimidating business tycoon Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan).
The popularity — and notoriety — of James’ fiction is such that moviegoers know from the outset that the stumbling block tripping these two up, as they attempt to tango, will be Christian’s fondness for whips and chains. Thus the duo’s first interaction — which comes about when Ana agrees to fill in for her ailing roommate Kate (Eloise Mumford), a journalism major, by interviewing Christian for the campus newspaper — is loaded down with dramatic irony.
All Ana knows is that Christian has been tapped to deliver the commencement address at her pending graduation. But we’re on to this dungeon-loving Bruce Wayne’s real identity. So his sly double entendres are ever so much fun.
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It’s worth reading so that you’ll be able to talk about it with the young people in your life. You may think they are not going to see it, but my bet is that they will and they won’t tell you because they know you’d disapprove. At the very least they are hearing all the talk. So have this conversation, even if difficult.
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