Image Credit: Focus Features

Oh yeah…I went there. All the fuss over 50 Shades of Grey simply got the best of me and I somehow found myself at an 8pm prescreening Thursday night at the Arclight. (Whatever, don’t judge me.)

Long story short, the greatly anticipated 50 Shades of Grey which opens Friday is just about as “decent” as the mediocre E L James novel of the same name that’s sold over 100+ (YES THAT MANY) million copies.  With popcorn in hand, I’d say the sex scenes gave just enough anticipated flesh to stay true to the far-fetched novel while avoiding an NC-17 rating. And contrary to several reviews circulating, Jamie Dornan as the handsomely hard-bodied “Dominant” billionaire Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as the doe-eyed perfectly inexperienced “Submissive” Anastasia Steele have just enough chemistry to hold the attention of the audience at least until the next “smack” down.

But c’mon, were we really looking for much more?

Now before die-hards get their undies in bunch over the spoilers and dismal reviews this film is receiving, I will offer one advisory to those preheating with anticipation. 50 Shades of Grey is Part I of a trilogy, so two additional films are still approaching development. Yes ladies, that means this first film is going to end by leaving you hanging, — so be prepared for a fade to black just when you’d like a bit more to be revealed.

The internet will be saturated with reviews and chatter over the next few weeks or so, from people boycotting the film for being “misogynistic” and abusive toward women, to uber-packs of book club fans (also female) purchasing yet another round of tickets for an encore performance.  Either way, anyone headed to this movie expecting award-winning performances, dialogue or plot line should reset their expectations.  However, Beyoncé’s song Haunted from the 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack will most likely score the highest approval ratings in comparison with the film:

As for me, I’m a survivor and have no regrets. Flesh-fest aside, I’ve been a Jamie Dornan fan long before he was cast as Christian Grey (he also headlines The Fall opposite Gillian Anderson on BBC Two), and found Dakota Johnson easily fitting the omni-flustered shoes of Anastasia Steele in nearly every scene.

So check it out anyway in the event you’re still sitting on the fence. The next time we’ll meet Christian and Anna will be in 50 Shades Darker, with undoubtedly just the right amount of additional fuss and backlash forthcoming as well.