I read all 3 books before watching the movie, so I already knew what was going on in the minds and hearts of Christian and Ana.
The books did a far better job of explaining all that, whereas the movie had to gloss over a lot to cover all the main scenes. THAT is the main fault of the movie, it simply could not provide all that information in 2 hours.
Otherwise, I thought the movie did a good job of telling the story, within its time constraints. Again, though, therein lies the problem. The whole story simply can not be told in a 2-hour movie, and that is why it appeared to be lame, or whatever adjective you prefer, to a person who has not read the book. The movie as made really only 'works' for those who have read the book first, and already know the back story.
My only real complaint about the movie was that I didn't feel Dakota was cast well as Ana. The book describes Ana's body as distinctly different, so seeing her embody the role was a letdown. In addition, Dakota was just a little too plain looking for the role. Sorry Dakota, no offense to you, you just don't look like the Ana described in the book. In defense of Dakota, they wanted a virtual 'unknown' for the part which makes perfect sense, they just needed to find someone with the face and body that EL James described.
I thought Dakota did a fine job of acting the part, given all the circumstances of her casting.
I didn't think Jamie's performance was too stiff, but that's because I knew what was in his mind and heart from having read the book.
This is a movie that really can't be fully enjoyed without reading the book first.
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