Do you have a pen?

..When 50 Shades of Grey was published in 2011, it caused such pandemonium that even the most illiterate among us were reaching for the bookshelves. 50 Shades Darker & 50 Shades Freed were later released and there seemed to be no end to the hype.

Initially, I was completely uninterested in reading this smutty novel but eventually I caved. I was fully aware that no self-respecting writer would entertain turning the pages of such a read. But I am not a professional writer and so I joined the thousands of other women, teenage girls and a few curious men and decided to see what all the fuss was about.

With the first book read in super sonic speed, I quickly rushed to buy books two and three and fell a little bit in love with this deeply moving love story. Sex aside, that’s basically what it is.

On hearing there was going to be a Movie based on the Novel, I wasn’t at all exited. Even less so when I heard who had been cast to play the lead roles. Charlie Hunman was set to play the supremely handsome billionaire, Christian Grey and I didn’t think he suited the role at all. Finally they announced that Jamie Dornan had been cast. Now this made me raise an eyebrow. I had seen him in ‘Once Upon a Time’ and ‘The Fall’ and was already rather smitten!

Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele however, had me utterly baffled. What were the casting directors thinking?

When the movie release date was announced, some of my girlfriends asked me if I’d like to go with them as they were booking tickets that were selling out fast. Well YEAH! Of course I wanted to go. Although I’ll confess I was expecting to be bitterly disappointed, especially given the initial poor reviews.

As I approached the Cinema, I realised I should have probably arrived an hour earlier just to find a parking space.  I have never seen so many illegally parked cars. Luckily I managed to spot a tiny space that my tiny Abarth would squeeze nicely into. Once inside the building, you could hardly move. There were horny, giggly women and a handful of intimidated men queuing  to get into the several screens that were showing the movie.

As soon as the movie started, all the women who have only seen Jamie Dornan as a serial killer in The Fall, suddenly stopped whispering as their mouths fell open and they were transfixed with his smouldering gaze! He was absolutely perfect in the role, as, I hate to admit after all the moaning I’d done, was Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele.

The movie was definitely not porn. There was just enough sex to tell the story and this was all very tastefully done given that most of the sex scenes take place in the red room of pain! The humour was spot on and the chemistry between the lead actors was perfect. The end of the movie has done nothing to satisfy our fascination with the story though, we have simply been left yearning for the sequel.

After watching the movie I have concluded that If I met Christian Grey, I would only have one question regarding ‘the contract’…

….. “Mr Grey, do you have a pen?!!”