Rating: 
Summary: the rare instance where the movie surpasses the book
Review: As stated in my review title, I feel that the film is much better than the short story on which it is based. Gaitskill's story is well-adapted (and is quoted verbatim during the film), but I'm glad to see that the film did a little more with it. Gaitskill's story seems to start off strong and then just abruptly finish with this hunky-dory moment where the love story is so wonderful, and her descriptions of key scenes are so brief that they might as well have never happened. The film goes much deeper with the characters and plays out the scenes to their greatest effect. So many people that I've talked to love this film because it is just such an amazing love story, and I don't think you understand that so well with the short story.. Highly, highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: WEIRD CAN BE FUN
Review: The title misled me into expecting a cheesy pseudo-comedy about the tired subject of female exploitation in work places. Then, a bit of reading pointed towards a plot based on maverick overtones of S&M (disclaimer: not really my bag), which had me expecting a psychosexual serving of "Working Girl" (that Griffith humdinger from the 80s) with bondage thrown in for good measure. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised to be proved mostly wrong on both accounts. As for the hackeneyed theme of female exploitation, the protagonist's initial willingness to acquiesce to her boss' punitive ministerings could have easily made her a victim of an employer/a man/a senior. Instead, this is quite convincingly shown to be her mode of entry into adulthood, allowing her to develop the inner resources to be a self-determined woman relentless in the pursuit of what and whom she wants. As for bondage, the depictions are not really bad at all (albeit occasionally guilty of needless nudity, imho) and in fact for better or for worse challenge our pre-conceived notions of sex. Anyone involved in a relationship knows that an essential ingredient is variable power balance -- it's inevitable, despite some people's claims that they have a completely equal affiliation. These power shifts help keep romance vibrant, most likely resulting in wisdom and self-acceptance. What men often confuse as strength -- stoicism, aloofness, obstinacy -- are, more often than not actually weaknesses leading to ignorance, avoidance and ultimate demise. Paradoxically, it's in hapless vulnerability that we actually discover what we're capable of, being able to develop emotional resilience and learning to express desire, sexual or otherwise. Gylenhaal's Lee Holloway embodies this weakness-as-power concept to the T, making an appealing case for growth by any means necessary. In a nutshell, a delicious, fast-paced, wonderfully filmed, off-beat romantic "comedy". Not something I'd necessarily go out on a limb to buy or own, but definitely worth an enjoyable evening's rental. Twice.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm not alone
Review: SECRETARY was a wonderful movie. It approached S/M as an alternate lifestyle and just as acceptable as a "normal" lifestyle . This movie allowed me to feel good about my wants, desires, and needs. It also made me feel that I was not alone in my choice of lifestyle. However, I have yet to find a partner as loving, caring, and gentle as James Spader's character in the movie. Perhaps, I need to become a secretary. :) Anyhow it is a movie for S/M beginners, as well as advanced, to see. SECRETARY is a beautiful story of love, passion, and release.
Rating:
Summary: Assume the position.
Review: This is a really interesting movie. It offers a view into a world I was unfamiliar with, and provided me with a clearer prospective. I liked how the movie portrayed these characters not as 'freaks', but normal people with unusual habits. I thought their needs and desires a bit odd, but not perverse. This is basically a love story, with the two main characters having their own secrets, of which they think in and of themselves are sort of sicknesses, but when they find each other, see how well the compliement each other, open up and create something that seems right for them. I also think Maggie Gyllenhaal is very attractive, even from the beginning of the movie. It was great to see her transformation from what she was to what she became. I agree with another reviewer with regards to the ending in that it seemed to wrap things up a little to nicely, but it didn't ruin the movie for me.
Rating:
Summary: Surprise: "Secretary" is a heartbreakingly beautiful comedy
Review: If one were to judge by the poster art for "Secretary", one would assume that it is an unsavory blend of titillation and cuteness. To see that poster art, check out the soundtrack CD elsewhere on this site; the art is the same. The DVD's artwork makes the movie look even worse: like yet another tiresome entry in the over-populated "Erotic Thriller" genre. Putting preconceptions aside one discovers a film that, for all its humor, couldn't be more serious about its theme, which transcends the film's Bondage & Discipline milieu: All people have a truer self within them that they may or may not have the courage to become. Sometimes intimidation comes from outside; just as frequently, from within. Lee, the title character, and Edward, her boss, both come to realize that physical and psychological discipline, humiliation, and pain -for Lee, enduring it, for Edward, administering it - not only stirs them, but is the lynchpin of each one's personality. Neither can be complete until each embraces this truth. Edward initiates their transformation by helping Lee channel the lonely self-aggression that has long made her cut and burn herself into a succession of arcane but steadily more overt B&D scenarios (Their first real "sex act" is Lee's volunteering to dumpster dive for some lost documents before Edward can order her to do so). Lee flourishes as never before, but Edward soon reverts to the shame he has long struggled with. It's up to Lee, the supposedly "passive" half of the couple, to use her increasingly steely confidence in herself --this young woman KNOWS what she wants, what she is, and what Edward is, too-- to complete the transformation, leading Edward, once and for all, into self-actualization and true love. Thanks to Lee's devotion, Edward is free of self-disgust at last. The opening scene of "Secretary" drops the viewer into the middle of this narrative. In a shot that will be repeated some 55 minutes later, Lee carries out a variety of office duties with poise and efficiency --despite the fact that she is wearing a bizarre and uncomfortable-looking restraint that holds her arms straight out at the shoulders. The first time around the scene seems odd, almost repugnant; Lee lopes with unnerving calm to (longtime David Lynch collaborator) Angelo Badalamenti's creepy theme around a nightmarishly baroque office. Then, abruptly, a title card: "six months earlier". The narrative proper begins. At first, it's unclear what this circuitous opening adds to the story, apart from an element of suspense that might not be had if the events unfolded in strict chronological order: the opening scene presents a big "What?"; the viewer waits anxiously to learn the "Why". What other purpose this scene might serve becomes clear with its reprise. By then a subtle understanding of its context is possible. The remarkable Maggie Gyllenhaal imbues Lee with such supple humanity that the viewer has become more than sympathetic, and understands how much this long-suffering but plucky creature is enjoying herself, arm-restraints and all. The scene is no longer unsettling, but celebratory. The scene hasn't changed. We have. Director Steven Shainberg, on the DVD commentary track, says he hopes that his film will do for S&M what "My Beautiful Laundrette" did for homosexuality almost 20 years ago-- increase mainstream understanding. Perhaps it will. On the same commentary track, the film's writer Erin Cressida Wilson says that the uncertain "Um....." Lee utters after Edward has administered the first blow in the justly famous spanking scene is Wilson's "Favorite line". She then chuckles, and modestly refrains from explaining what she means. Here's why it's good: Although this pivotal scene is fraught with emotion, Lee's tentative "Um....." is the only line of dialogue in it that acknowledges, even obliquely, what is taking place. Unlike the painfully verbose, excruciatingly clever screenwriters who currently plague independent film, Wilson realizes that what people say may be only tangentially related to what they mean, or are thinking, or what's happening, and that great feeling may lurk behind the most banal or fragmentary remark. "Secretary" is one of the strictest, fullest applications of this principle imaginable (The screenplay must contain one column each for speech and subtext on every page). Never glib, never clever, just smart, "Secretary" is certainly a comedy of some sort, but it contains nothing that exactly qualifies as a joke. Its minimal dialogue leaves wide expanses in which the actors can and must communicate non-verbally. The leads are up to the task. Gyllenhaal (pronounced "JILL-in-hall") and the always watchable James Spader make adept use of facial expression, posture -watch Lee's gait change in the course of the film-, verbal pauses and inflection to create a world of meaning beneath deceptively mundane, often monosyllabic, dialogue. Tune into these actors' peculiar wavelength and be endlessly fascinated.
Rating:
Summary: a kinky love story....
Review: This film is weird at times but it is really entertaining...
it's your usual love story between a secertary and her boss...how they meet and do very kinky things and how he dominates her...it's your usual love story..yeah right...it's subject matter might be weird to some people..but it's a very funny and entertaining film..i enjoyed it...
Rating:
Summary: a firm hand plants a smile on her face
Review: James Spader is terrific as the lawyer but the real star is the newcomer Maggie Gyllenhaal. And its not just the steamy stuff or the unusual nature of the steamy stuff whick marks this actress in your mind with indelible ink. Gyllenhaal is simply irresistable as the "secretary" who is too riddled with anxiety to allow herself to live. Her anxiety gives her a strange awkward kind of energy which just wins you over in scene after scene. She doesn't realize it but all her life she has been looking for someone to give her permission to live and when James Spader's character does just that she metamorphoses into her true and determined-to-have-her way self. The transformation is a two way street however and as this boss/secretary co-dependence blossoms into full blown love Spader also emerges from his self-imposed exile from his own feeling self. Its not your usual love story but thats just the point--each of us, the film says in its unapologetically and delighfully perverse way, has to re-invent life to suit our needs. The sets are all painted in the most putrid comic book day-glo colors and yet we grow to accept this abnormality just as we grow to accept the abnormalities of the Gyllenhaal/Spader dynamic. I would argue the best scenes are Gyllenhaal's "soliloquy's" in her bedroom and bathroom. In these scenes we penetrate the depths of her very private world, including her fantasy life and it is not a dark world at all. There is in her utter isolation from the normal channels of existence a rare kind of aloneness, rare because so complete, but there is also a manic kind of self-celebration in it. This is one story of dysfunction that does not end in a normalizing cure. Quite the opposite, the rest of the world comes to accept Gyllenhaal and Spader on their terms. Certainly the best love story involving spanking I've ever seen. A feel good movie for the secretary (and audience) alike.
Rating:
Summary: Spank Me!
Review: SECRETARY has three things going for it. Maggie Gyllenhaal. Maggie Gyllenhaal. Maggie Gyllenhaal. First, Maggie Gyllenhaal's transformation from mental misfit into S&M master player is the stuff great performances are made of. While the subject matter might not have won over every viewer, the subtle nuances of her performances, the minor changes in her body language, and the growing fervor in her eyes elevated what could've been a laughable attempt at showing the effects of perverse seduction to the area of pure art. Second, Maggie Gyllenhaal inhabits this character so tightly, so perfectly, so vividly, it's hard to imagine any other person ever being considered for the role. With an awkward grace, she fumbles uncomfortably through her life until her wayward encounter of being spanked truly awakens that part of herself seeking to be so much more than who she is. Third, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a stunningly beautiful actress who is just wonderful to watch on the silver screen, the ... tube, or anywhere else you can catch it. As does her character, her looks blossom from innocence to worldliness in the course of two hours in the way few actresses have been able to accomplish in any film. She's a young Diane Lane in the making. Look for great things from this talented performer. Overall, the story is a bit forced. It's relatively convenient (or is it star-crossed?) that the frumpy misfit finds the manipulative and sadistic lawyer (played admirably by James Spader in an ever-admirable 'James Spader' mode), but, in the end, its all academic. These two characters were meant to be together, and they enjoy every bit of shared screen time they get.
Rating:
Summary: Edgy, Erotic and Funny
Review: When I heard about this movie I was intrigued and rushed to rent it when it came out on DVD. Halfway through the movie I wasn't quite sure if I had been misled, but as soon as the sparks begin to fly for Mr. Grey and his humble secretary with a highly charged proofreading, the momentum of the movie really takes off and by the end I was left rapt and entirely satisfied by the entire experience. Men may view this film differently than women, but as one of the gals, I found some of the most intensely erotic scenes were after their first intimate "encounter" in Edwards office which concluded with heavy breathing and the slightest touching of fingers. Though the film may be quirky, it is deeply affectionate and I came away with empathy for almost all the characters in the film. Now that is a great movie!
Rating:
Summary: Spank me, Spader!
Review: Lovely, lovely, lovely. If you like James Spader, spankings, beautiful sets, and offbeat romance then this is the flick for you. I went in to it knowing nothing; it had been recommended by a few friends. I came out a whole new woman... Definately one for the library. You'll want to see it again. And again. And...
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