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.
After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.
An I.R.S. auditor suddenly finds himself the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire life, from his work, to his love-interest, to his death.
Director:
Marc Forster
Stars:
Will Ferrell,
Emma Thompson,
Dustin Hoffman
Masochism, rubber, corporal punishment, wrestling, and infantilism are all examined into detail as a documentary crew visits a bondage house and its mistresses in upstate New York.
Director:
Nick Broomfield
Stars:
Mistress Beatrice,
Nick Broomfield,
Mistress Catherine
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
Erin Cressida Wilson: 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. See more »
Goofs
After Mr Grey sees Lee preparing to self harm and she starts to tidy her desk the strands of hair falling in Lee's face change. First two then only one (when she holds the pencils) then two again. 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"
I'm Your Man
Performed by Leonard Cohen
Written by Leonard Cohen
Courtesy of Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment (Canada) Inc.
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing See more »
'Secretary' deals with a daring and original subject and does this in an effective and funny way. Its subject is sadomasochism, its genre is a romantic comedy. The secretary is Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who suffers from self-mutilation, her boss is Mr. Grey (James Spader), who seems the coldest man alive. When they are in the same room you feel that there is something there, they both feel it too. Since the movie opens with a certain S/M scene we already know that there is a point in the movie where the two must find each other and start the sadomasochism activities. I will not reveal how and when it happens, but the moment is great.
Saying too much about the story would spoil things. We laugh at the right times, which is a good thing. Considering the subject it is even hard to accomplish that since people who are not familiar with it laugh very easy when they see strange things. For most audiences the events will be strange. The original approach of the movie, the performances perfect for this movie, the funny moments and an ending that plays exactly as it should this is a good movie and one of the most original romantic comedies I have seen.
87 of 107 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
'Secretary' deals with a daring and original subject and does this in an effective and funny way. Its subject is sadomasochism, its genre is a romantic comedy. The secretary is Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who suffers from self-mutilation, her boss is Mr. Grey (James Spader), who seems the coldest man alive. When they are in the same room you feel that there is something there, they both feel it too. Since the movie opens with a certain S/M scene we already know that there is a point in the movie where the two must find each other and start the sadomasochism activities. I will not reveal how and when it happens, but the moment is great.
Saying too much about the story would spoil things. We laugh at the right times, which is a good thing. Considering the subject it is even hard to accomplish that since people who are not familiar with it laugh very easy when they see strange things. For most audiences the events will be strange. The original approach of the movie, the performances perfect for this movie, the funny moments and an ending that plays exactly as it should this is a good movie and one of the most original romantic comedies I have seen.