Rating: 
Summary: Story of O for this Century
Review: A girl with a troubled history behind her - she likes to inflict wounds on her self - gets a job as a secretary with a law firm. When she starts making typing errors, her boss punishes her: firstly with spanking, then by making her crawl on all fours with a letter in her mouth, and building up from there. Curiously, she enjoys the attention that she finds no-where else. Certainly not from her boy friend, who does not give her the excitement that her boss gives her; not from her alcoholic father, nor from her over-protective mother. The attention may be perverse, -and this is a very perverse film- but through it, she discovers her self-esteem and no longer feels the need to inflict wounds on her body. If the psychology passes muster or not, I can't honestly say, but it seems to make narrative sense. Without, I hope, giving too much away, this film has a happy ending, but this only adds to the film's perversity. An unusual film, but an interesting one. I suppose the moral of this film is that there is someone for everyone, or that love is found when desires are met. This may not be Love Story for the 21st Century, but it could be this century's Story of O. Outstanding performances from Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader.
Rating: 
Summary: ???
Review: This film seamed to lack cohesion. I am not new to this subject, but I just did not get it.
Rating: 
Summary: absolutely delightful film
Review: This film could have been third class perverted semi-porn movie. But the director Steven Shainber did great job in turning a bit perverted material-sadism and masochism-into absolutely funny and cute love story. Although the movie deals with somewhat irregular sexual issues, it is never erotic or disgusting. The reason, I suppose, is truthfulness and purity of the characters.
Maggie Gyllenhaal(Lee) did stunning work in playing a very pure, yet unconventional, female secretary. Lee looks somewhat dumb and weak to her desire, but at least she is uncontaminated by the outside world and true to her feelings. The way she tries to seduce James Spader is quite adorable.
James Spader also proved that he is a great actor. Mr. Gray (Spader) is slightly deviated from the normal person, but still he is greatly attractive man. How he heals the wounds of Lee and how he resists her seduction induces laughter from the audiences.
This film is never typical and never normal, yet it shows the true feelings of the human beings. This film depicts physical attraction, yet it show what real love is.
I absolutely recommend this film to everybody and I guarantee that anyone who sees this film will like it.
Rating:
Summary: James Spader and Sex just seem to go together
Review: If you own Crash, then I think you should own this movie too. Both movies are, in a way, about sex. Both star James Spader. The Secretary is about a troubled girl who likes to hurt herself. She is hired by a troubled man who likes to hurt girls. The imagery and symbolism is fantastic (I'll never look at a red Sharpie the same way again). The only realy downfall to this movie is that the ending isn't really very intense. They could have cut the ending of the movie off just after the lawyer makes his "I'm rather fond of you as well" statement, and it would have been perfect. As it is, they drag it out to a fairybook ending in a normal seeming suburbia lifestyle.
Rating:
Summary: crazed shocking amazing brilliant
Review: This film is a testament to the new and engaging style of indie cinema. Here we have an impossibly slick and beautifully stylized love story on the edge and I'm glad to see that it's appreciated.
Maggie Gyllenhaal (who I've only glimpsed in Donnie Darko and Adaptation) is stunning. Lee's journey from darkness to light, through what may be seen by many as a dark avenue, is touching and earnest. She learns to live and be comfortable in her own skin, as well as finding the strength to fight for what she wants rather than timidly taking the path others set for her. She plays opposite James Spader (a gifted and beautiful actor) naturally and without a single hitch. Their relationship grows and transforms both characters with utter grace and sensitivity.
Possibly the most amazing thing about this film is the fact that it never becomes pretentious, preachy or even slightly over the top. It is always honest, true to its characters and often comic, in spite of its rather taboo subject matter.
Wonderful as the movie is, watching it at home on DVD is not without some difficulty. If you have a player with a sound equalizer, use it. There are quite a few moments when the sound gets very soft and very loud - often back to back.
Rating:
Summary: Watch this movie, Miss Holloway
Review: Be surprised, for this is a love story. I don't want to say twisted. I don't want to say that it's a journey to self fulfillment. Yet, it is. After all, this is Hollywood. Don't be put off by the movie posters. Don't be be turned off by the ad pictures of Spader and Gyllenhaal. Do not step away from the S&M. This is a very, very dark comedy. It can be so much so that it is not immediately obvious that it is a comedy at all. The romance is very strong, yet unconventional. For a submissive character, Gyllenhaal's Lee becomes exceptionally strong, far stronger than Spader's E.Edward the dominant. Here is the heart of the movie, Lee's pivotal strength that pulls both of them from their fears and confidence oblivion. Angelo Badalamenti's soundtrack has been said to pinpoint the Lynchness of the movie. The music is excellent yet not as powerful in its involvement as it was in David Lynch's movies and TV. There is a great importance to the lack of music in a number of scenes, drawing the audience into what is happening most electrically. Miss Holloway, come into my office... and bring this movie with you.
Rating: 
Summary: Well, it's certainly different!
Review: "Secretary" won an award at the Sundance Film Festival for being the "most original" or "most innovative" movie of 2002. And it probably deserves that accolade. But is it good? Will you, the viewer, enjoy it? That will depend largely on your tastes and sensibilities; this is not a movie for everyone, and a lot of people will find it too sick or twisted for their tastes. But if a fair amount of s/m sex between two consenting adults won't bother you, then "Secretary" has a lot to recommend it. Its portrayal of the two main characters is perceptive and non-judgmental, and both Spader and Gyllenhaal do a bang-up job in difficult roles. If you're fairly open-minded, it's worth a rental.
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Summary: What a pleasant surprise!
Review: I rented this movie with little hope. Although I've enjoyed James Spader in the past (Sex, Lies And Videotape, for instance), this move looked like a crappy erotic N'Synch daydream about "Ooh, sexretaries!" Ick! However, I was utterly entranced and delighted by this movie. I was so entranced, that I watched it once, and then promptly watched it a second time. James Spader was utterly captivating. He was unbelievably sexy, dark, and oddly sweet. I didn't love Crash but this movie has restored my faith in someone that I have considered to be an excellent actor for many years. Maggie Gyllenhaal (who is the main character as Lee) was adorable from the start and watching her growth through the movie is amazing. She starts as a lonely, odd, sweet girl who clearly doesn't have any idea where she fits in the world. As the relationship between Mr. Gray (James) and Lee grows into an incredibly intimate blend of needs (hers and his), Lee begins to become simply and completely self-aware. Although she is the submissive half of the SD couple, you see that she is also, in many ways, the stronger half. She wields an enormous amount of control in her submissive form. I found this move to be oh so sexy, joyous, sweet, and completely bewitching.
Rating:
Summary: quirky black comedy
Review: "Secretary" is an odd little sadomasochistic fantasy in which a lawyer and his secretary establish a kind of master/slave relationship in the office. Lee Halloway is a deeply disturbed young woman who has just been released from a mental institution where she has been recuperating from a nervous breakdown. Lee copes with her severely dysfunctional family - her father is an alcoholic who beats his wife, while her mother is a passive victim of abuse who overprotects her daughter - by cutting, gashing and burning herself regularly. Now, back on the outside, Lee finds employment as secretary to a paralegal, E. Edward Grey, an equally neurotic man who turns out to be a full-blown "dominator" behind closed doors. Together the two forge a bizarre sexual alliance so all-consuming in its nature that one wonders how this small office ever gets any work done at all. Writer Erin Cressida Wilson and director Steven Shainberg have fun with the many ironies and paradoxes inherent in the offbeat world they are exploring. For instance, Grey, by restricting Lee's freedom of choice, is actually liberating her by getting her to channel her self-abusive tendencies and desire for pain into a "healthier," more "productive" direction. Lee also discovers that men with unconventional sexual tastes may be no more willing to "settle down" and "commit" with a likeminded partner than many a man with more traditional sexual proclivities. In many ways, "Secretary" turns out to be almost a recruiting poster for the sadomasochistic lifestyle. The S&M scenes are kept relatively tame in tone and the film displays a wickedly funny sense of humor for most of its duration. Moreover, the decidedly upbeat ending of the film could easily have garnished any Doris Day-Rock Hudson romantic comedy - had standards 40 years ago allowed them to explore this type of topic, that is. As Lee and Grey, Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader turn in terrific performances. They manage to capture the quirky nature of their respective characters without ever making them appear off-putting or grotesque. Their performances go a long way towards purging the material of the kind of sleaziness and smarminess one might expect to find here. The early scenes in the film may be a bit disturbing for some in the audience, mainly because we feel a bit like voyeurs ourselves peering in on the couple, almost as if they were zoo animals or subjects in some sort of psycho-sexual experiment. But then, as we get to know the characters and come to like them, we become absorbed in their story and find ourselves actually cheering them on and wanting them to find some measure of meaning and happiness in their relationship and lives. The makers of "Secretary" have taken a potentially "touchy" subject and injected it with warmth, humanity and insight. It's hard not to feel uplifted by this film.
Rating:
Summary: Not what you would expect
Review: I had no idea what to expect when popping this one into the DVD player. At first I thought it was bit much with the main character cutting herself and then submitting to spanking and domination by James Spader (Way creepy. What is it with that guy anyway?). But there's a humor there I haven't seen and an unexpected sweetness...by the end I was bewitched by this movie and all its weirdness. Horribly addicted, I watched it twice in one day, back to back. And I'll probably do the same thing tomorrow. This just made my top 10 fav movie of all time list. So if you are looking for something offbeat, unusual, and refreshing from Hollywood, this would be a great place to start. I havent had a movie touch me like this since....I don't know. :) The soundtrack is also incredible, check it out. I havent stopped listening to it for days.
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