Secretary (2002)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Steven Shainberg

Writers:

Erin Cressida Wilson (screenplay)
Mary Gaitskill (short story)

Release Date:

14 November 2002 (Israel)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Assume the position.

Plot:

A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.

Plot Keywords:

Secretary | Masochism | Lawyer | Employer Employee Relationship | Flashback

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

James Spader	...	Mr. Grey
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Lee Holloway
Jeremy Davies	...	Peter
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Joan Holloway
Stephen McHattie	...	Burt Holloway
Patrick Bauchau	...	Dr. Twardon
Jessica Tuck	...	Tricia O'Connor
Oz Perkins	...	Jonathan
Amy Locane	...	Lee's Sister
Mary Joy	...	Sylvia
Michael Mantell	...	Stewart
Lily Knight	...	Paralegal
Sabrina Grdevich	...	Allison
Lacey Kohl	...	Louisa
Julene Renee	...	Jessica

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality, some nudity, depiction of behavioral disorders, and language.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Ireland:18 | Finland:K-15 (self applied) (2006) (TV rating) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (2006) (DVD) | Italy:T | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Canada:18A | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Philippines:R-13 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #38664) | Canada:16+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

La Boca Restaurant - 5368 Wilshire, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Slough Pond

Trivia:

In a scene in Mr. Grey's waiting room, where there are three people waiting to see him, one of them is played by the film's screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lee picks up and puts down the mirror for practicing her job interview, her thumb is up. In all other views of her holding the mirror, her thumb is across the handle.

Quotes:

Lee: Each cut, each scar, each burn, a different mood or time. I told him what the first one was, told him where the second one came from. I remembered them all. And for the first time in my life I felt beautiful. Finally part of the earth. I touched the soil and he loved me back.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Happy Endings (2005)

Soundtrack:

Georgina

a dark comedy layered with nuanced social and personal commentary

What is the path to love? For every person, it's different. The superficial circumstances are similar... you meet someone at work, at school, in a singles bar. And, usually, the emotional pathways are similar. Eyes meet. We talk. We dance. We communicate about ourselves to each other. Then begins the sexual part, so we parry and thrust, take signals from each other, and, over time, we feel each other up together. But what about the path to love through the back door (so to speak)? What about a love story where she's a young, neurotic woman, just out of a mental hospital back to a family where Dad's a serious drunk and Mom's a serious nervous fruitcake. And what about a man, an attorney, who's emotionally closed off and can only get in touch with orchids, inserting long stainless-steel tools into their waiting organs. Yes, these two find each other in one of the most bizarre cinematic love stories ever.

I loved this movie. I pilgrim around, searching through books and movies for secret pathways to and circumstances of the human heart. This movie transcends its gentle S&M to reveal yet another way to love.

Our heroine, the fresh-faced (and magnificently moon-like) Maggie Gyllenhaal is brilliant as the new secretary to a lawyer who goes through so many secretaries, he has a "secretary" vacancy sign he lights up outside his office. As our heroine tries to re-enter the world by getting her first job with this man, it becomes apparent that the boss is anything but normal. He is demanding yet insistent that his new charge break away from her stifling past and be herself. But what or who is she? And who in the hell is he?

The movie is sexy. There's no denying it. Gyllenhaal is radiant and sinuous, and we feel that she's truly experiencing the wonder of it all for the first time. Spader is type-cast a bit, but his world-weary sexiness fits well with Gyllenhaal's naiveté. And, let's face it, Gyllenhaal is grippingly sexy, and we see her in hose, panties, tight skirts and in the nude. And as far as I'm concerned, she's fabulous, darling. And in one of the movie's sexiest, most endearing scenes, we see Spader carry her off in her urine-soaked wedding dress as he finally assumes his responsibilities as her loving "dom". She is totally tired, subservient and radiant in total surrender, rescued from a voyeurizing world. What a hunk of sexy cinema that was with her arm languidly draped around Spader's neck as he carried the bride over the threshold to love and dominance. Wow.

This movie explores and explodes sexual myths. The director has successfully created a dark comedy layered with nuance in a stew of social commentary. This movie is not for everyone. Stay away if you're conventionally wrapped, conservative, or lacking in a certain joy of exploration. But if you're ready for a most untraditional-traditional love story, Spader and Gyllenhaal give Oscar worthy performances... but of course the subject matter nixed that.