Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Release Date: 04/01/2003
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DS/DD2
Run Time: 111 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Lions Gate
Sadomasochism provides the backdrop for a very unusual employer/employee relationship in this very offbeat
romantic drama from filmmaker
Steven Shainberg.
Lee Holloway (
Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a shy young woman, who, after a brief spell in a mental institution, is released in the care of her overprotective mother (
Lesley Ann Warren) and hard-drinking father (
Stephen McHattie). Hoping to make good on her own,
Lee begins looking for a job, and in her free time indulges in her odd habit of inflicting pain upon herself in various ways.
Lee is hired as a secretary by
E. Edward Grey (
James Spader), a grim and ruthlessly efficient attorney who warns her that her work will be both dull and demanding.
Lee takes to the job with genuine enthusiasm, and while she's recently acquired a new boyfriend,
Peter (
Jeremy Davies), she's far more intrigued by
Grey's coldly patrician demeanor. While
Grey often criticizes
Lee, she seems to thrive on his abuse, but one day he crosses a line when he insists upon spanking her after some minor mistake.
Lee quite enjoys the treatment, and wants it to continue, but
Grey can no longer take pleasure humiliating
Lee when he knows that she likes it; he fires her, despite her pleas to be allowed to stay. Finally discovering the key to her sexual and emotional needs,
Lee tries to persuade
Peter to be rough with her, but he simply doesn't have the taste or talent for it, and
Lee soon maps out a last-ditch effort to win back her position with
Grey, whatever the cost.
Secretary won a special award for "Originality" at
the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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