Fifty Shades of Black
What stands out first about Fifty Shades of Black is the confidence with which Michael Tiddes establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Fifty Shades of Black asks Marlon Wayans and Kali Hawk to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Fifty Shades of Black is established with useful clarity: An inexperienced college student meets a wealthy businessman whose sexual practices put a strain on their relationship. That direct approach lets Fifty Shades of Black use its 1h 32m running time for character, atmosphere and consequence.
Michael Tiddes shapes Fifty Shades of Black with an approach that feels uncertain about tone and dramatic emphasis. The best directed passages in Fifty Shades of Black establish an objective, let the characters respond and then allow the pressure to change naturally. Isolated moments suggest a more compelling version in Fifty Shades of Black, particularly when Michael Tiddes resists the urge to underline an already clear emotion. My main reservation about Fifty Shades of Black is that events happen without gathering enough dramatic force, a limitation that interrupts rather than defines the experience.
The craft of Fifty Shades of Black is defined by performer rhythm, supported by performer rhythm rather than overwhelmed by decoration. Fermion Films gives Fifty Shades of Black a production framework in which comic timing built around character can remain connected to story. Made from a United States production context, Fifty Shades of Black uses setting and design to clarify mood before dialogue has to explain it. The technical finish of Fifty Shades of Black works because image, sound and editing appear to be serving the same immediate purpose.
Fifty Shades of Black is most involving when the screenplay allows the central character to complicate what initially appears to be a story about an important relationship. That shift gives Marlon Wayans a more specific problem to carry through Fifty Shades of Black. Working from material credited to Marlon Wayans, Fifty Shades of Black reveals a difficult choice at a measured pace instead of rushing toward its largest turn. The later pressure around the wider conflict shows why Fifty Shades of Black benefits whenever cause and consequence remain visibly connected.
Marlon Wayans gives Fifty Shades of Black its most dependable performance, finding a clear emotional intention beneath the plot. Opposite Marlon Wayans, Kali Hawk brings Fifty Shades of Black a contrasting pace that prevents the central relationship from feeling flat. Fred Willard widens the ensemble of Fifty Shades of Black through reactions that suggest a life beyond the immediate scene. Michael Tiddes serves the cast of Fifty Shades of Black best when a look or pause is allowed to finish before the story moves on.
Beneath its plot, Fifty Shades of Black is most interested in embarrassment, status and the gap between confidence and reality. That concern becomes visible through Marlon Wayans, whose choices allow Fifty Shades of Black to explore an idea without stopping for a speech. The central character gives the themes of Fifty Shades of Black a concrete dramatic form rather than leaving them abstract. The emotional value of Fifty Shades of Black grows whenever Michael Tiddes trusts the audience to connect behaviour with the larger question.
Taken as a whole, Fifty Shades of Black is a film for only the most curious members of its likely audience for comedy fans who respond to personality and timing. Fifty Shades of Black leaves its strongest impression through performer rhythm, the work of Marlon Wayans and a clear understanding of tone. The limitations around how events happen without gathering enough dramatic force should be acknowledged, but they do not erase what Fifty Shades of Black does well. I would return to Fifty Shades of Black for its personality and its willingness to connect genre pleasure with recognisable feeling.
Comments