Review Roundup: FIFTY SHADES OF GREY Opens Just in Time for Valentine's Day

Based on E.L. James' best-selling novel of the same name, romantic drama FIFTY SHADES OF GREY opens nationwide today. The film originally premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

The story follows young college student Anastasia Steele who agrees to step in for an ill friend and interview local business entrepreneur Christian Grey for the school paper. The two soon realize they are attracted to one another, and Grey introduces her his own to particular desires, sparking an affair neither will soon forget.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY stars Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Eloise Mumford, Luke Grimes, and Rita Ora.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

A.O. Scott, New York Times: "Fifty Shades of Grey" might not be a good movie - O.K., it's a terrible movie - but it might nonetheless be a movie that feels good to see, whether you squirm or giggle or roll your eyes or just sit still and take your punishment.

Claudia Puig, USA Today: We're supposed to believe Anastasia might be swayed to share Christian's predilection for dominance and submission, but Johnson doesn't convey much enthusiasm with her one-dimensional acting. What could have been provocative instead just feels like retro fantasy.

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Dornan, unfortunately, never evolves into anything more than a pretty face. But Johnson is a true find: She's so committed, she makes Ana's every discovery - in or out of the bedroom - convincing.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: A few early reviews have given the film a pass because it's not as dirty as advertised. They seem grateful. I'm disappointed. Twisted me! The true audiences for FIFTY SHADES OF GREY are gluttons for punishment - by boredom.

Mereditth Goldstein, Boston Globe: ...Anastasia Steele - a character who spends much of the "Fifty" trilogy rambling on about her "inner goddess" and her obsession with her controlling boyfriend - is turned into a human by Dakota Johnson, a comedic actress who manages to make the character seem like someone worth knowing.

Sara Stewart, New York Post: ...the massive success of the "Fifty Shades" franchise has made one thing abundantly clear: Women want more sex in their media. They're not going to get as much of it here as in the novel, but no matter - it's already quadruple the amount in any other mainstream movie women are likely to see this year, and it's all aimed squarely at them.

David Edelstein, Vulture: It's elegantly made, and Dakota Johnson is so good at navigating the heroine's emotional zigs and zags that you want to buy into the whole cobwebbed premise.

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: ...the celebrated kinky elements in "Fifty Shades" are so used as a tease in this considerably less explicit film (rated no more than R for, among other things, "some unusual behavior") that when the worst does take place....it feels so out of place it seems to have come from a different film altogether.

Mara Reinstein, U.S. Magazine: This flick isn't intended to be a polished work of high art - you just want an escapist night out. But it's not fun enough to be enjoyed over popcorn or emotionally charged enough to be taken seriously.

Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian: ...the real find in Sam Taylor-Johnson's better-than-it-has-to-be adaptation of the risibly written and ludicrously popular softcore novel is Dakota Johnson. Reminiscent of only her mother Melanie Griffith's best characteristics, Johnson's Ana squeezes believability out of one of the more silly romantic entanglements in recent popular culture.

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