I didn’t really care for Fifty Shades of Grey. Its soap opera-level plotting was too silly and worse, it wasn’t even sexy. I much preferred the smutty thrill of its spiritual predecessor, Nine 1/2 Weeks. Now that’s a BDSM relationship worth watching. Dakota Johnson may have given one of 2015’s most bizarrely funny performances in Grey, but it couldn’t compare to Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke’s searing chemistry. So, when Basinger was cast in Fifty Shades Darker as the woman who got Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) into BDSM, I was thrilled. What a brilliant interplay. It was as if her character from Nine 1/2 was so changed by her doomed relationship with John Grey that she became a Dominant herself—and with another Grey, no less. Sadly, Darker is a bit of a disappointment on the Basinger front.
To be clear, that’s not her fault. Basinger does a lot with her minimal screentime and really, simply having her in the movie is an asset. The way her Nine 1/2 character’s words inform her Fifty Shades character’s dialogue is fascinating. Elena’s entreaties to Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) don’t feel like the machinations of a detestable, jealous older woman like they do in the book. Instead, they feel like the earnest warnings of someone who knows what it’s like to love a Dominant man who’s unable to be vulnerable. Still, wonderful as that interplay is, Basinger doesn’t really get to do much. Really, that’s true of the whole cast.
Like most second entries in a trilogy, Fifty Shades Darker feels like pure set up. To its credit, so much happens during the film’s two hour runtime that the pacing rarely drags. However, that constant sense of movement also keeps the film from having much structure. Things just keep happening and happening until all of a sudden, the film ends. There’s so much business to take care of that the audience and characters barely have time to react to each revelation or twist—let alone for the actor to craft real performances. Well, maybe except for Johnson.
In one pivotal scene, Anastasia responds to Christian’s declaration of love with a confused, “why?” and the answer seems so obvious. As played by Johnson, Anastasia is nothing short of captivating. She’s alive and funny and fully in control of her relationship with Christian. She knows herself in a way she didn’t on the page and Johnson makes the most of every line and gesture. The camera loves her and she flirts coyly with it.
The same cannot be said of Dornan. Perhaps it’s because he’s working so hard to hide his accent that all his dialogue seems flat or maybe it’s due to his professed discomfort/disgust with BDSM, but Dornan’s performance never really grabs your attention. While Johnson can imbue every grunt or giggle with meaning, Dornan remains impenetrable and Christian is a bizarre enigma as a result. In his hands, Christian’s only motivators are his childhood damage and his desire for Anastasia. The only time there seems to be anything going on beneath his beautiful façade is when Christian’s Dom tendencies run rampant.
Take the scene where Anastasia watches him dominate a former submissive. His power is palpable, but even then, that’s largely thanks to the way Johnson and Bella Heathcote react to him. Frankly, Johnson does most of the work in all of their scenes. Director James Foley’s less sterile approach to filming the sex scenes gives the couple a heat they lacked in the first Fifty Shades, but their chemistry is virtually nonexistent when they’re just trading dialogue.
Admittedly, it does feel a little unfair to blame Dornan for Christian’s weaknesses. Mr. Grey is, after all, not so much a man as a collection of desirable traits. No, not traits. Things. He’s got a great body and more importantly, he knows how to use it in bed. He’s filthy rich and earning money faster than he can spend it on yachts or helicopters or chalets in Aspen. He’s not attractive because of his personality—he doesn’t even have one. He is desirable because of the security, pleasure and adoration he represents. My audience frequently bubbled with excitement throughout, but by far the loudest squeal of ecstasy came when Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” played over the scene where Christian teaches Anastasia to captain his enormous yacht (not a metaphor). Christian is appealing not as a man, but as the embodiment of a romantic fantasy.
Whatever its many faults, the reason Fifty Shades Darker works is that it lets the audience live that fantasy. But it’s important to remember that it’s not really the wealth that sells it. Hell, it’s not even Dornan. It’s Johnson. Like Kristen Stewart in Twilight before her, she is the conduit that lets the audience experience the dream of Christian Grey. And sure, we could spend lots time arguing about whether Christian is really all that dreamy, but why? Pleasure is such a valuable commodity these days. Why spoil it with logic?
Rating: 6.5/10
