Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful !
Review: Beautifully designed movie, every scene incredibly crafted. Unbelievably amazing colors and cool relationship...
Rating:
Summary: Hot,Hot,Hot!
Review: I never have considered myself to be "into" S&M. But I could not pry myself from this movie. It is hot,sexy,stirring and strange. James Spader is excellent in this role,it was made for him.You love and loathe him at the same time. I found this movie strangely exciting and very erotic. It's 9 1/2 Weeks with a kick,and a much happier ending.I will watch this again and again.
Rating:
Summary: A must see movie
Review: This movie maybe a little bit too much for some people to handle, but if you can get over any conservative ideas about sex then you can truly appreciate this movie. The story is brilliant, and the actors do a great job. Dont think this is some cult film for the BDSM community, even though im sure it will become one, this is one of the best love stories ever written.
Rating: 
Summary: piss poor
Review: This movie is a waste of time and money. I'd advise watching the antiques collector show - geriatric special before seeing this. You still want a copy... here, have mine.
Rating:
Summary: Gyllenhaal & Spader shine
Review: I suppose I should be wracked with feminist guilt for enjoying SECRETARY as much as I did, but instead I must rave about the amazing performances of Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader. This film frankly tackles sexuality, gender, age and experience as they relate to power and control, in fairly explicit terms. I'm a big James Spader fan from way back. I have a great soft spot for his gloriously self-indulgent 'Yuppie scum' performances from The Brat Pack years, elements of which are seen here along with significant influence of his roles in SEX LIES AND VIDEOTAPE and WHITE PALACE. Spader's E. Edward Grey is obsessed with big red Sharpie markers, orchids, humane mousetraps and sugary coffee. And spanking, just to name a few things. He's created a false pastoral environment in his office, carefully watering and feeding his orchids among the sickly green paneling and placing a row of dying houseplants along the dark hallway leading up to his office. The light in the office is murky, giving the impression that nothing could grow there, but could definitely fester. Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a gutsy performance as Lee Holloway, Mr. Grey's secretary and eventual counterpart in a submissive/dominant relationship. Lee, like Mr. Grey, is delicate and high-strung. We see Lee just released from a six-month stint in an institution to attend her sister's pink, plastic, Florida poolside wedding. She stands apart from both the other guests and her family at the reception, enveloped in an ill-fitting blue dress and the viewer is not surprised when she retreats to her bedroom and methodically begins cutting her thigh. As Lee and Mr. Grey become drawn to one another, Lee begins evolving into a more confident, attractive woman. Her shapeless clothes and sloppy sweaters are traded in for knee-length skirts, nylons and heels. When Mr. Grey tells her that she doesn't need to cut herself anymore, she actually throws away her implements. She comes to thrive on his attention, starting with his gleeful discovery of typing errors to circle with his red pens and slowly escalating to more explicit behavior. The biggest surprise of the film lies in the fact that at its core it is a romance. A twisted, non-standard situation, but a romance nonetheless. After much emotional drama these two damaged characters have found kindred, obsessive, kinky, needy souls in one another and you leave the film thinking that they just might be able to make it work.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling , funny and uneasy
Review: " Secretary " is actually a film about ' finding your other half ' and about how ' love overcomes every obstacle ' although it does feel a little bit weird saying that . The story of Lee who finds shelter from her self-traumatising obsessions in Edward's passion for humiliation is a rather kinky yet surely memorable movie offering . Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a brave , powerfull perfomance in her first leading role and without wanting to underrate Spader's fine work , the film basically rests on her shoulders . Although it's a little too-much to actually call this ' my favourite movie ' since it's quitte difficult to directly connect with the heroes , " Secretary " manages to makes us understand them and that alone is truly a triumph . Joy Division's " Love Will Tear Us Apart " wouldn't make it to it's soundtrack but The Divinyls " Sex Will Keep Us Together " would have been an option to consider .
Rating:
Summary: Not as Obscene as some people made it out to be!
Review: I first heard about this movie in my Independent Film Studies class. Everyone, my peers and my techer made it seem as if this movie was extremely risque. S&M is defiently something that you could put in that category...but it seemed interesting so I figured it would be something to just watch for the hell of it. Now in the opening credits I was really expecting a really graphic intense film about wat S&M pertains to, SEX! But I was surprised, sure it did have a wee bit of nudity and some sexual content...but nothing that made you blush horribly and have to hide your eyes (Or as my friend did, turn it off). I really thought it was a cute romantic comedy that just happend to have some serious issues involved with it. Defiently a movie I would buy! SO GO RENT IT!!
Rating: 
Summary: Brave and fascinating!!!
Review: The most important reason to see this movie is to watch Maggie Gylenhaal. This performance is the reason the word "incandescent" exists. She makes herself totally believable and VULNERABLE throughout. It is a brave performance. It's great to see James Spader back in a worthwhile role again. He's always been an interesting, quirky, charismatic performer. Spader plays an attorney (who never has any clients, apparently!) who appears to be very shy and socially backward. He hires Gylenhaal, also shy and socially backward, to be his secretary. Their relationship slowly turns into one of S&M. Maggie is the recipient of the humiliations, which she enjoys. The movie tracks their VERY odd, but oddly touching relationship. It isn't really a movie about S&M so much as a movie about how two seemingly hopeless individuals can find "true love." In many ways, it is a sweet movie. An explicit sweet movie, however. Gylenhaal's character becomes more and more open about her sexuality as the movie progresses, and it becomes more and more explicit. It's not porn, but it sure isn't for the kids either. This is not a movie for everyone, but if you are in the mood for something adult, different and brilliantly acted, SECRETARY may be your cup of tea. The movie does move along at a languid pace, and it takes awhile to begin to gel around its themes, but the payoff is worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Surprising
Review: Didn't know what to think of this film when I watched the trailer. And I REALLY didn't know what to think of it in the beginning, but the performances were so strong and the production values so good that I had to keep watching. When it was all said and done I loved it. What makes the movie work (aside from the acting of the two main leads-Spader and Gyllenhaal who are both terrific)is that with all the bad things that are going inside these two people you as the viewer do care about them. It works as a kind of perverse love story. This is not for everyone. Be warned. If you liked Punch Drunk Love or anything by David Lynch I am sure you will get a kick out of this. The ending made it for me.
Rating:
Summary: "You and me gonna make some medicine"
Review: I found this to be both an entertaining and a thought-provoking film. We are introduced to characters rather that caricatures, who's quirky and at times contradictory personalities are revealed gradually. As a viewer corn-fed on Hollywood's "Just So" stories, one does feel a bit frustrated by the fact that we never do fully understand these characters. But of course, this is how it is in real life.
I also feel the director and actors should be commended for having the courage to portray politically sensitive subjects in a realistic light. These subjects include common male-female power dynamics, 'deviant' sexuality, and self-mutilation. Fortunately, the movie does not condescend to offer pat solutions and ultimate homogenization. While leaving open (probably too open, in fact) the question of what is ultimately best for a person, the movie at least suggests that 'deviance' loves company; one just needs to make sure said 'company' understands and is respectful of each other. Perhaps I'm giving Spader's enigmatic character too much credit here, but again, in real life you rarely know.
This is certainly a sexy film as well. While much of the heat is radiated directly by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the director demonstrates (in the most convincing way possible!) that the pairs' passions lurk somewhere inside all of us. The fine acting also prevents us from writing these two off as freaks. Both Gyllenhaal, in her active pursuit of submission, and Spader in his passive and highly ambivalent attitude towards dominance, are convincing.
On the negative side, I felt the director struggled with the ending. It just seemed like we weren't given enough of Spader's character during the film to justify such a definitive ending. One might also question the very things I praised earlier in the review, such as moral relativism, and whether these activities are ULTIMATELY going to leave these characters better off or not. But would this MOVIE ultimately be better with a heavy-handed moral tone? I'd say 'not'.
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