Synopsis
A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.
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Cast
- James SpaderMr. Grey
- Maggie GyllenhaalLee Holloway
- Jeremy DaviesPeter
- Lesley Ann WarrenJoan Holloway
- Stephen McHattieBurt Holloway
- Patrick BauchauDr. Twardon
- Jessica TuckTricia O'Connor
- Osgood PerkinsJonathan
- Amy LocaneLee's Sister
- Mary JoySylvia
- 80
Wall Street Journal
Lee's journey of the body and soul is something else. Maggie Gyllenhaal makes it strangely touching, a revelation. - 80
Rolling Stone
A film of startling humor and feeling. For that, director Steven Shainberg, who co-wrote the script with Erin Cressida Wilson, owes much to two remarkable performances. - 80
Newsweek
Manages to be simultaneously subversive and sweet. - 75
Boston Globe
Love hurts in Secretary -- but not too much. It's not impossible to imagine adventurous young couples seeing this movie and rushing home to try out the handcuffs and paddles. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
Approaches the tricky subject of sadomasochism with a stealthy tread, avoiding the dangers of making it either too offensive, or too funny. - 60
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Secretary is deeply conventional: Edward and Lee accept their bondage as the way to a more fulfilling life. It's the filmmakers who need to be spanked. - 40
The New Yorker
Not meant to be realistic; it was shot by the director Steven Shainberg in a slow, dreamy neo-De Palma style and in candy colors, and Gyllenhaal has a Kewpie-doll silliness that almost makes the naughty parts of the movie fun. [23 Sept 2002, p. 98] - 40
New Times (L.A.)
The problem with Secretary isn't that it is offensive or unnerving -- although you get the idea the filmmakers hoped it might be at least one of those. The problem is that the story is slow-moving and dull.