"Secretary"
A young woman, Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal), released, not long ago, from a mental institution, seeks an undemanding job as a secretary where she will only have to type and file and get coffee. She takes a job with, she will soon discover, demanding attorney E. Edward Grey (James Spader) who uncovers Lee penchant for self abuse and mutilation. His understanding and caring soon turn the employer-employee relationship into sex and sadomasochism in the wildly different love story, "Secretary."
As I watched the offbeat tale unfold, with all its weirdness - the physical abuse, anal retention, dominant/subservient B&D relationship and inflicted pain - I couldn't help but have a cheery feeling about how "Secretary" would turn out. In a David Lynchian way, Lee and E. Edward are made for each other as he convinces her to stop her self-mutilation. He replaces it with an S&M treatment, mainly spankings, for the far too frequent spelling errors Lee makes in his correspondence. Before you ask, "why doesn't she use spell checker?" Mr. Grey does not allow computers in his office and requires Lee to use an IBM typewriter instead. The ongoing error/punishment cycle, with the mistakes circled in red and mounted in a funky place of honor along the hallway to Grey's office, sets to tone of the budding relationship between Holloway and Grey.
"Secretary" is owned by its costars, Spader and Gyllenhaal. Maggie G. makes an amazing breakthrough in her first starring role (she appeared in "Johnny Darko" with brother Jake) and eats up the screen. Her body language exudes with a hurt-me posture but she becomes more assured as she learns what it is that she wants from life - E. Edward Grey. Gyllenhaal's deft character study takes Lee from a troubled, unhappy young woman from a broken home, with her dad (Stephen McHattie) succumbing to the tragedy of excessive drink, to a confident and happy lady by the end. And, I had no doubt that this would be the case.
James Spader answers the question of: "what became of the character, Graham Dalton, that Spader played in "sex, lies & video tape?" He changed his name and went to law school to became a successful, if psychologically screwed up, attorney, living the life of a feudal martinet in his private law firm as he goes through a cycle of hire-abuse-fire of one secretary after another. Grey even has a permanent, light-surrounded "Secretary Wanted" sign under his shingle. Spader's performance is the perfect foil for Lee and reps his own character study of a man with a whole passel of deep-seated emotional problems. He and Lee are a two-piece puzzle that fit together perfectly.
First time helmer Steven Shainberg had adapted the Mary Gaitskill short story (with Erin Cressida Wilson, who is credited with the screenplay) and has created one of the most appealing, if strange, love stories of the year. Shainberg is joined by a team of talented technicians that inject artistry and life into this avant-garde romance noir. The perfectly rendered score, by Lynch favorite Angelo Badalamenti, helps maintain the suspense that is a constant undercurrent of the film. Production design by Amy Danger helps contribute to the Lynchian appeal of the film with Steven Fierberg's lensing also complementary.
"Secretary" exceeds any hopes I had for the film. It is a good yarn with a pair of great, nuanced and very different performances from the pair of principles. I give it a B+.
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