Disrupting Nicholas Sparks’ takeover of Valentine’s Day next year will be Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Fifty Shades of Grey, the adaptation of E.L. James’ S&M-y take on Bella and Edward’s relationship from the Twilight series, minus the fast-growing vampire babies.
Set in the world of corporate moneydom where dates take place in helicopters and private planes, Fifty Shades of Grey is pure fantasy. The plot, such as it is, finds Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson), a mousy everygirl, the sudden obsession of wealthy playboy Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan).
The trailer promises kink and extended sex scenes, and frankly, that’s just fine with me. Some may complain about the inherently unequal relationship between Anastasia and Christian, but Fifty Shades is also the rare mainstream movie willing to admit that our love lives and daydreams are nowhere near as vanilla as depicted in the movies.
Accompanying the lovers’ affair is a slowed-down, extra-throaty version of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love,” which adds another layer of frisson to the video. It’s gonna be a long seven months’ til Valentine’s Day 2015.
