Secretary
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.99 You Save: $4.99 (33%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $5.98 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Secretary
Movie Review: I had trouble with this one
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm not into blood and the cutting scenes with Maggie Gyllenhaal made me look away. This also starts v e r y slowly, and you might tune out before it really gets going, as I was tempted to do. In all, you'll have to work if you want to get through this one, so it's not a good choice for a night of easy viewing pleasure.Movie Review: NO MAYONNAISE THIS TIME !
Summary: 4 Stars
I'M YOUR SECRETARY! I'M YOUR SECRETARY! Punishingly funny. Sick, disturbing, entertainingly silly comedy. From subtle, to heavy-handed, to unpredictable.
You're not sure if you want to like, hate, or pity the main characters; Mr Grey (James Spader - Stargate, The Practice, Boston Legal) or Lee (Maggie Gyllenhaal - Donnie Darko, The Dark Knight). But there are some outrageous scenes that make up for the somewhat (ahem) sick sexual practices that the boss and secretary go through.
Jeremy Davies (Saving Private Ryan, Solaris, Rescue Dawn), as Lee's spaced-out boyfriend Peter, lends welcomed comic relief to some pretty dark and painful scenes (pun intended).
This movie is definitely not for the straight-laced; even though you've got to keep reminding yourself "It's only a movie." Not be be taken seriously. The tomato throwing scene was priceless.
Movie Review: Secretary review by Brandon
Summary: 4 Stars
Good movie, kind of long though and more drama than action. Maggie is very good in this movie. I'd recommend it only for adults though, pretty provocative.Movie Review: Look Beyond The Pain
Summary: 5 Stars
Normally I wouldn't watch such a movie, but I did. There are many themes layered throughout this movie that you could pull apart and inspect, or ignore, depending on your view. You could fixate yourself on the S&M aspect and be blind to everything else, unable to look past the red-rears and handcuffs.
I saw this movie as about a woman discovering who she is in a world she never knew existed. Yes, James Spader's character is a bit odd, dominating her with almost Nazi-like authority. But the girl holds herself, finding out how strong she really is and how much she can endure. It's about discovering what really drives you forward and makes you who you are. It's about being able to look passed what society thinks as normal and create your own world with your own rules.
The movie started a bit slow, then gradually picked up momentum. By the end I was so pulled into it I wanted more. A short "making of" segment and trailer are the only special features on this DVD. Not much else, but then again I couldn't imagine what more could be added.
Overall a great movie, fun for the whole family...especially the kids!!
Movie Review: forget the D/S theme; excellent movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
In writing this review, I notice that the recommended tags are things like "BDSM" and "taboo," however this view of the movie really doesn't do it justice. Neither is it done justice by the view of Mary Gaitskill that this is the "Pretty Woman" version of the short story this movie is based on. "Secretary" is not a salacious Dom-sub movie, but it has cinematic qualities that recommend it as something more than a Hollywood romantic comedy.
From a set and costume perspective, this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Everything chosen for this film is textured, highly sensuous, and beautiful, and the cinematography is well crafted to show off the props without detracting from the story-telling. The script is also well done with adequate dialog and good plot development. I hadn't read anything about this film beforehand, I honestly didn't know how it was going to turn out right up til the end, and I wanted to find out! There is only one really unfortunate choice--a video montage with a pop music soundtrack around 1:40:00 takes you out of the world the director has sucked you into. But that is only one instance.
As for the Dom-sub theme, I was prepared to be turned off, but I was not. Despite the theme, the movie is not sadistic in its treatment of the heroine. It invites us to be sympathetic with her, and the James Spader character actually helps her stop one unhealthy and damaging clinical expression of psychopathology. Whether the relationship that eventually develops between Gyllenhaal and Spader should be considered "healthy" (or is itself an expression of psychopathology) is something for psychologists and sexologists to debate among themselves, but "Secretary" does not invite us to leer at exploitation the way a film like "Boogie Nights" does.
This is not a film I would watch with my parents or children, or with hard-left feminists. But I would watch it with friends or possibly a date (not the first). If you are a film aficionado or if you enjoy off-beat films (like Tim Burton), you really need to see this one, although I think it could be enjoyed by just about anybody who doesn't have a knee-jerk reaction to the theme.