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.
An emotionally fragile woman recently released from a mental hospital for self mutilation goes to school to gain secretarial skills to gain employment. She has an alcoholic father and a co-dependent mother who are clueless as to who she really is which a tormented soul who really wants to find something with which she can find success. She is a great secretary and finds a job with a unique, old fashioned, but off center in charge boss with a somewhat sadistic sexual proclivity. She grows and evolves and so does he.Written by
kateann1027
Despite her character struggling to lift heavy objects and climb into a dumpster, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal had no trouble performing these tasks. See more »
Goofs
Mr. Grey slams a letter on Lee's desk and he has circled the
letter 'f' in the word 'knowledfe', which Lee has mistyped. When Mr. Grey brings Lee into his office and makes her bend over to read the mistyped letter she just placed on the desk, we see that the entire word is circled, not just the letter 'f,' as was seen before. Not only that, but the word circled in the letter Lee reads is "illuminatinh", rather than "knowledfe". See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Lee:
[narrating]
I got out of the institution on the day of my sister's wedding. I had started to get used to the place. Breakfast at 8:00, classes at 2:00. Therapy at 4:00, and asleep by 10:00.
Dr. Twardon:
[Lee's doctor says goodbye]
You can call me any time, Lee. I will always try to be of help to you.
Lee:
[narrating]
Inside, life was simple.
Lee:
[Lee hugs her doctor]
Thank you, Dr. Twardon.
Lee:
[narrating]
For that reason, I was reluctant to go.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The legal disclaimer has typing errors:
"fictitious" is misspelled "ficticious"
"unintentional" is misspelled "unitentional"
unauthorized use of the film is warned as resulting in "civil liberty" instead of "civil liability"
Directly from My Heart to You
Performed by Little Richard
Written by Little Richard (as Richard W. Penniman)
Courtesy of Virgin Records America, Inc./Ace Records Ltd./Blues Interactions, Inc. See more »
User Reviews
Closest thing to Sadomasochism Hollywood will ever get.
This movie is a fantastic work of and about the loving, caring relationships present in BDSM. That two humans can inflict pain, punishment and suffering onto another that they love and do it intentionally and not only do it but also enjoy it is something not often seen in the best of lights. Often BDSM films depict the darker "edge" side of the lifestyle and show only the cruel torture that can be involved. You may often find these films on the internet or an adult book/video store. The film Secretary is a deeply touching portrayal of a young lady who is suffering from alot of painful problems, the worst of which is self-mutilation. she, as most self-mutilators do, inflicts bloodletting and pain on herself to "feel alive". The pain being a sensation that they feel and reminds them that a corpse feels no pain. Sadly this is often one of many problems people have. But in Hollywood all is well. Luckily this is only a film as even the lifestyle of BDSM regards the act of harming anyone to be bad. Hurt on the other hand is quite pleasureable for a masochist as Maggie Gyllenhaal's character "Lee" learns and experiences. James Spader's character "E Edward Grey" is a lawyer with apparently too much time on his hands as he almost never met with a client or appeared in court or a law library, who feels ashamed and embarresed about his feelings of Sadism and Domination. Through Lee he is able to come out of his shell and they both lean on each other for growth and development onto themselves. This causes them to fall in love and bonds them even further beyond what they sadomasochistic episodes do. Each session becomes heavier and edgier as they explore deeper and awaken more inside themselves. What a truly wonderful film about the lifestyle that many, many people do on a daily basis and even 24/7 for a large number. The closest Hollywood will ever come to showing how great and wonderful a BDSM relationship can be.
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This movie is a fantastic work of and about the loving, caring relationships present in BDSM. That two humans can inflict pain, punishment and suffering onto another that they love and do it intentionally and not only do it but also enjoy it is something not often seen in the best of lights. Often BDSM films depict the darker "edge" side of the lifestyle and show only the cruel torture that can be involved. You may often find these films on the internet or an adult book/video store. The film Secretary is a deeply touching portrayal of a young lady who is suffering from alot of painful problems, the worst of which is self-mutilation. she, as most self-mutilators do, inflicts bloodletting and pain on herself to "feel alive". The pain being a sensation that they feel and reminds them that a corpse feels no pain. Sadly this is often one of many problems people have. But in Hollywood all is well. Luckily this is only a film as even the lifestyle of BDSM regards the act of harming anyone to be bad. Hurt on the other hand is quite pleasureable for a masochist as Maggie Gyllenhaal's character "Lee" learns and experiences. James Spader's character "E Edward Grey" is a lawyer with apparently too much time on his hands as he almost never met with a client or appeared in court or a law library, who feels ashamed and embarresed about his feelings of Sadism and Domination. Through Lee he is able to come out of his shell and they both lean on each other for growth and development onto themselves. This causes them to fall in love and bonds them even further beyond what they sadomasochistic episodes do. Each session becomes heavier and edgier as they explore deeper and awaken more inside themselves. What a truly wonderful film about the lifestyle that many, many people do on a daily basis and even 24/7 for a large number. The closest Hollywood will ever come to showing how great and wonderful a BDSM relationship can be.