Secretary
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Movie Reviews of Secretary
Movie Review: Excellent movie.
Summary: 5 Stars
People have already given plot details in other reviews...they're missing out on a bit though on what makes this movie stand out and be mememorable--and erotic--beyond your regular "soft porn" or even hardcore movie.Lee was institutionalized for a suicide attempt--not for the "cutting"--she was distracted when cutting and cut too deep--it was an accident. So...she was treated for the suicide attempt--not for the cutting behavior.
She's a sadist but doesn't realize it. She WANTS to be a secretary--it's her ultimate job fantasy. She wants someone to tell her what to do. Later,when Edward explains to her WHY she cuts herself (it makes her inner pain visible and she can watch it heal--she can't see inner pain and can't make it heal)and tells her YOU WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN--she gets the control over the behavior that she has fought to control (throwing the "sewing kit" away, then retreiving from the trash). She tried--but was unable to do it on her own. By giving herself over to "a higher power" she finally achieves this and achieves HER ultimate happiness.
I don't think that he ended the relationship because he was disgusted with himself or the situation. I think that was his taking the relationship to a newer, higher level of intimacy. He was punishing her/controlling her. When she was consciously making mistakes and eagerly getting into spanking position, it took away any punishment that it had. What to do now? The ultimate punishment--fire her! She is devastated--and decides to just go and marry her "boy-friend"--a young man who also experienced a "break down" and had been asking her to marry him. But, while trying on her fiance's mother's wedding dress, she realizes what she needs to do. She races to the office, barges in and sits down at his desk and refuses to leave. The ultimate fruition of the relationship--she proves her total and unquestioning devotion to him in spite of other people knowing what's going on--even family and friends. She does this by sitting in his office with her hands flat on his desk without moving from place, not moving, eating,etc-- even urinating on herself--showing him that she is ready to be his submissive--his ultimate slave. AND they live happily EVER AFTER. And that's really the best part in dysfunctional relationships, isn't it?
Movie Review: A quirky story, but it works!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not necessarily the prurient film it touts itself to be. I was surprised it was much more serious and much more beautiful - - yes, beautiful - - a story than I had ever anticipated! This film could easily have become much more twisted and dark (Boxing Helena, anyone?) or much more campy (Frankenhooker), but instead it evolves into an examination of a mutually satisfying relationship - - on an emotional level, even though there is a lot of the physical going on. There is humor, but it is subtle enough to kind of tickle your brain fleetingly and keep you in the story. The submission/domination plot line is actually very cerebral. I think you could actually get two very different movie-going experiences with this film. One would be a "oh, what a sweet movie, plus I got some kinky eye-candy to boot" and the other would be an experience where you recognize symbolism, you examine self-empowerment issues, you mentally debate feminist vs traditional ideals, etc. But then again, maybe I just think too much! James Spader (as Edward) is just wonderful at playing this type of character, tortured and mysterious, and Maggie Gyllenhaal (as Lee) very effectively blossoms from beginning to end of the story. The extraneous characters are developed just enough to give you a good sense of what their roles (dysfunctions and all) are before the story begins, and leaves them at that. Yes, I had questions but easily let them go. The true focus is on Lee and Edward. I must also mention, without actually spoiling the plot for you, the storyline between the pinnacle of the conflict to the ending is just fraught with fantastic symbolism, utilizing nudity, nature, water, light. It really piqued the intellectual part of my brain.
All in all, I think this movie could be one of my new favorite love stories. I'm not a fan of the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks syrupy sweet romantic comedies, but "Secretary" was much easier for me to relate to because the characters are so non-perfect. As a mother, this is not a movie I would be comfortable watching with my children present. I am not a prude, and certainly not opposed to a good swat on the behind now and then, but there is one scene in particular that would bring up too many questions. It is, after all, rated R for a reason.
Movie Review: Secretary is Wonderful.
Summary: 5 Stars
Before being the sexy submissive, she attended the rather superior and notable Columbia University in New York City. That's right, folks. Maggie Gyllenhaal (who plays Lee Holloway) earned her bachelors in English at this well-acclaimed school. But who cares about where she got her acting schools. Man, where did she get those fabulous LEGS that we see on the case cover? But the real question is where in the world did she meet a character like Mr. E. Edward Grey (James Spader)?Lee Holloway had just completed some time at a mental institution, where she was sent after her uncontrollable habit of self infliction. Returning back to her imperfect suburban home, she's determined to find the perfect job with her newly developed typing skills. As the incredible typing crackerjack she became, she applies at the small, private law office of Mr. Edward Grey. She gets dropped off everyday by her mother in a typical white station wagon to this ordinary, quaint, small brown firm. But is it really so ordinary? Hidden behind the walls and closed doors is leashed sexual desire. And hidden behind the face of Mr. Grey is a troubled past and self-conflict. But what is it? Will these two screwed-up minds be able to help each other?
This story of two troubled, isolated souls contains highly arousing yet beautiful dialogue.
"Now pull up your skirt...I said pull up your skirt...pull down your pantyhose and underwear...I told you I'm not going to -f- you..."
I guess there's no romantic implication in that given statement but doesn't love always come after pleasure and fun? Well, this film allows that to be true.
The movie does center on the idea of D&S (dominance and submission) and S&M (sadism and masochism). But we don't really see the actual role-playing and leather and vinyl clothing. However, we do hear the erotic punishment and discipline in the background with the sounds of spanking and cries. And that can be enough to turn you on. Holloway and Grey enjoy this sexual pleasure, but you keep wondering and on the tip of your toes, questioning how long will it go on?
"We can't do 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
"Why not?"
I am suggesting everyone to see this film. Gyllenhaal and Spader work besides each other perfectly.
Movie Review: Spare the Rod, Spoil the Secretary?
Summary: 5 Stars
My first viewing of the campy film Secretary could not have been more ironic because I had been working as a secretary -- ahem, assistant -- for a solo practitioner for only two months. I recall leaving the theater feeling empowered despite knowing that the next day I would have to fetch whatever my boss wanted, when he wanted it. There are bosses, not just the lawyers, who long for the old-fashioned secretary.
Bravo to the filmmaker for rendering Secretary's unflinching revelations about emotional pain as unsettling as its erotic depictions of the catharsis of that pain. I found, and still find, the film to be a surreal and vicarious pleasure. Not that what ensues between the boss and assistant in Secretary is unrealistic. Perhaps you know of a solo proprietor whose temp secretaries kept quitting but who now has a full-time assistant. Why is that assistant a perfect match?
Intellectually, I admire the filmmaker's courage in commenting poetically upon the ways in which American society conditions women to be passive and to devalue themselves. Leave it to an art/indie film to expose how some (or many?) American women find themselves either stuck in a time warp of adolescent vanity or suffering through existential paralysis. Because American women are taught to identify and value themselves through their relationships with men, it is a total thrill in Secretary to watch the script flip the stereotype of the skirt-chasing boss on its head.
In terms of casting, I cannot imagine anyone but Maggie Gyllenhaal in the title role. Her secretary is like the repressed alter ego of Elizabeth Taylor's Maggie the Cat on that hot tin roof -- full of angst but no less smoldering. Maggie G. appears to purr rather than speak. James Spader, who once upon a time seemed typecast as a snooty yuppie, gets the chance in Secretary to fully realize his erotic potential. While his character can be viewed as tongue-in-cheek, he delivers a genuinely quirky and sensitive performance.
When you get down to it, the various vicarious experiences in Secretary will please some and repulse others. For me, I received instant motivation to strive for accuracy in transcribing my boss's future dictation.
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.