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Secretary
Stars:
James Spade, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies, Patrick Bachau, Stephen McHattie,
and Leslie Ann Warren
Writer:
Erin Cressida Wilson
Story
Adapted By: Stephen Shainberg and Erin Cressida Wilson
Based
On The Story “Secretary” By: Mary Gaitskill
Director:
Stephen Shainberg
Feature
length: 111 minutes
Extras:
Writer And Director Audio Commentary, Behind-The-Scenes Featurette, Photo
Gallery, Trailers, and Music Spot
Languages:
English Stereo
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Lions Gate Films
Home
Video Distributor: Lions Gate Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Lee
Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) has recently returned home after spending time in a
hospital recovering from a nervous breakdown. Her family life is somewhat
dysfunctional though more is hinted at or inferred than is ever made clear. What
could be surmised is her father appears to be an abusive alcoholic and her
mother treats Lee as if she were a teenager, driving her to her new job and
picking her up when she gets out, which would be understandable to some extent
since her daughter is still getting her footing, but it is the little details in
the background that say more about Lee’s home life than the character actions.
He bedroom looks as though it has not been changed since she was a teenage girl
and her behavior at home is less mature than a woman her age probably should be.
Lee has had the compulsion the scar herself and even burn itself during
intensely stressful moments so her mother hides the steak knives as if she was
worried about a toddler getting a hold of them and yet she forgets that a person
doesn’t need a knife to inflict a scar, so we see Lee burning herself with a
hot coffee pot in her bedroom and then let out a sigh of release as if she has
exorcised some demon within her. Lee has a boyfriend (Jeremy Davies) from high
school who is a retail manager for a large commercial franchise store and like
her had suffered a nervous breakdown sometime after finishing high school. Their
families respectively look at their relationship as if it were arranged from the
point since they were born, but everyone underestimates Lee’s true potential,
including Lee herself.
However
after obtaining a job as a secretary for the law office of E. Edward Grey (James
Spader), Lee begins to blossom with self-assurance in part from the
indoctrination her boss puts her through, which starts slowly as simple
criticism of how she dresses, answers the phone and gradually extends to how she
eats and what she eats using a classical pain and reward behavioral technique.
Lee finds the structure gives her self-confidence and opens her mind to new
possibilities regarding her limitations and self-exploration both
psychologically and sexually. It is not long before Lee is getting an erotic
spanking and serving her boss on her hands and knees or with her hands bound to
a rod behind her shoulders and a letter or something else between her teeth.
Soon Lee is masturbating in the bathroom at home and the office, spanking
herself while imagining various sexual acts with her boss. She loses interest in
her boyfriend and when her boss begins to ignore her, she then turns the tables
on him and challenges him so that he has to discipline her. This culminates in
perhaps the ultimate confrontation between her boss and her own psyche too.
“Secretary”
will definitely offend some people and might titillate others, but the film is
actually more about a woman’s journey toward her own self-actualization than
it is about masochistic sex. In fact her boss is just as repressed as she is and
ultimately the relationship they share privately and consensually is perhaps
appropriate for both of them more so than if they were apart so do not expect a
candy coated happy ending because while the film does resolve it’s issues
amicably, it does so on it’s own terms. What I think ultimately hurts the film
is a segment near the end where she holds a vigil like stance at her bosses
office with various people coming to visit her offering criticism and
encouragement. Is it real or is it in her mind? The filmmaker’s in the
commentary seem to think it is real, but I find it hard to believe that anyone
whose daughter has been out of the mental hospital for less than a year, would
support the idea of her sitting at her employer’s desk with her hands planted
firmly on the table and her feet entrenched in the rug. Not only does she refuse
to sleep or eat, but we also see her urinating on herself! I’m sorry, but I
think the reality would be that her parents would have her committed before her
boss returns three days later to check on her. Lest we forget the fact that he
would probably be sued and lose his practice. Another element that strikes me as
complete bullshit is the media covering her vigil at the law office, but no one
even bothers to get the guy on camera whose placed her in this state? The
cameras would be all over his front door steps within minutes of setting up
outside his office. So again I ask, how can the filmmaker’s say that this
whole sequence is real when it can’t possibly be so? This is the Achilles heal
of “Secretary.” By the end of the film we see a woman journey from
repression into acceptance, but the whole message is muddled by this whole
sequence.
Having
appeared in “Sex Lies And Videotape” and “Crash” Spader is very
comfortable in his role as the meticulous boss who hides behinds his behavior.
In that area the film definitely establishes that as much as he frees her, her
acceptance of him unconditionally helps him. Maggie Gyllenhaal does a great job
of playing what essentially could be seen as three different facades beginning
with the timid woman with low self esteem to the burgeoning coming of age with
sexual desire, to an evolved adult. She can be pitiful, sexy, and confident at
various points of the movie and she truly does shine ultimately throughout the
film in spite of the muddled script. As for Jeremy Davies, I think he spent too
much time on “Solaris” because he’s just as spaced out over here as he was
in that film.
Presented
in an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio, “Secretary” has vivid
colors and great detail and yet the film at times has a slight soft edge to it
as if to suggest this is more of a dream than reality. An English Stereo
Soundtrack is provided. The voices are clear and there is no background noise,
but there is nothing remarkable about the soundtrack. Director Stephen Shainberg
and Screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson participate in a feature length and screen
specific commentary track which focuses on some technical aspects like the sets
as well as working with the actors and the esthetics of the world or worlds
within the film, but again while much of it is illuminating, I disagree with the
whole third act explanation and feel that ultimately the film cops out on what
could have been a great erotic drama. English Captions and Closed Captions for
the hearing impaired and Spanish Language Subtitles are also encoded on to the
DVD as options.
A
short behind-the-scenes featurette (7:09) with videotaped Director and Cast
interviews is included along with a gallery of 15 still photographs, the films
theatrical trailer (2:18), a soundtrack CD spot, and a bonus trailer for the
Director’s previous effort entitled “Hit Me.” The main menu is animated
with scenes from the film while the subsequent DVD menus are standard
interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
For
those who are curious, but definitely unsure whether or not they want to buy
this film on DVD, I recommend “Secretary” as a rental first when it debuts
on DVD-Video on Tuesday, April 1, 2003 from Lions Gate Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Secretary