Secretary

Secretary

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DVD Reviews of Secretary

DVD Review: Provocatively shocking cinema for select few (4.5 stars)
Summary: 4 Stars

People like to start by informing [you] that we first see Lee Holloway (Gyllenhaal) being released from a mental hospital. What they forgot to mention is that the very first scene shows Lee walking around a creepy, musty-looking office with a pole handcuffed over her shoulder and to her hands. THEN (six months earlier) we see Lee being released from a mental hospital. After that shocking opening scene the movie is rather straightforward; letting us know through thoughts and actions that Lee's family is the epitome of a dysfunctional family. A drunk father and an overly-protective, abused mother show us just why Lee has a problem with hurting herself. But as society and Lee would like to think, the whole mental hospital thing helped her. When she is debating whether or not to throw out her intriguingly hidden case filled with knives, needles, and ballet dancer dolls, Lee stumbles upon an ad in a paper for a secretary. We then see her crack a timely smile when typing a letter during a session of a typewriting class. So she heads to this office, wanders her way into its lobby and into a room in which E. Edward Grey (Spader) sits, starring complacently into the void. From the start, Edward is a vague and seemingly sinister man. He asks Lee a number of odd questions--that produce some puzzled responses--that you wouldn't normally hear on an interview, and hires her on the spot. Both characters seem to leer and look at one another in a way that is as bizarre as it is comfortable. In other words, it's very obvious they "like" each other. The work Lee does is tedious ("very dull", as Edward remarks); just typing and copying letters and whatnot. So tedious that it allows for Edward to watch over her every move. Like a perverted hawk he studies her movements and yells at her to fix her spelling mistakes. He pushes her, and she just keeps pushing back. Scene after scene you can feel Spader's character falling in love with Lee more and more. But it's not the kind of love you typically see; there's no kissing, no flirting, and hardly any talking. Just a lot of expressions. If you're not paying attention in the same manner Edward watches over Lee, you'll miss everything and the movie will go right over your head. You know all about the spanking that eventually occurs, I'm sure, but I'm glad to see no one made note of how that cultivates. That part is particularly amiable (choice word). From there it is a struggle for Lee to find common ground with Edward, as she feels so close to him that she can't take it (watching her try to smack herself in the butt with a hairbrush was one of the few comical bits of the movie). But Spader's temperament does not allow for him to give in that easily. He has a meticulously flawless plan for choosing "the one"; a plan that was clearly used on other commendable women before Lee. And after her, if she chooses to be non-submissive (the scheme she fails to understand). As a consequence, that is the whole point of the movie.

Again, 'Secretary' is not that strange of a movie when it's all said and done. It's just the endless actions and scenes that lead up to the climax that make it so different. It's amazing to see how well James Spader handles the role and how alluring Edward becomes over time. I don't like to question Oscar nominations and whatnot, but can honestly say his performance here is one of the greatest I have ever seen in a movie. Trust me, it's that good. And Maggie's disposition (believe it or not, she's a first-timer), although she's the main character, only compliments Spader and his stellar acting. It's so fun to see love being portrayed in such oddity. And it's even better to see how that altered love can heal a person. This movie is almost flawless, and the only part I didn't find fitting was during the ending (which I won't spoil). Watch 'Secretary' if what I have said intrigued you or made you keep reading till this point. By now you know what kind of person you are, and if you're this type of person (or at least can pretend to be), I highly recommend this. Be submissive.

Description of Secretary