Secretary

By Rosanna Esligar

I’ve never been one for love stories, but Steven Shainberg’s Secretary left me with that warm, fuzzy feeling that only an S&M love story can give you.

Adapted from a short story by Mary Gaitskill, Secretary follows twenty-something Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a cutter fresh out of the psych ward, in her search for a job in the real world. She finds a job as a secretary for a demanding, perfectionist, and somewhat neurotic lawyer, Mr. Grey (James Spader). What begins as an awkward, yet comfortable employer/employee relationship soon blossoms into a kinky, chain-me-up, spanking free-for-all. When Lee realizes she and her sadistic boss were meant to be together, she goes to great painstaking (and unsanitary) lengths to prove her undying love.

Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a stellar performance in her breakthrough film. Her quirky smile lends itself magnificently to the role of a troubled young woman who finds something in this world that makes her happy, however socially deviant. Similarly, James Spader offers a striking portrayal a man deeply distraught over his abnormal desires.

Secretary is a witty survey of the lives of two ordinary people who just happen to find happiness in a little soft-core S&M. Jam-packed with spanking, dead bugs, masturbating in the staff washroom, and true love, Secretary is definitely the feel-good movie of 2002.