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Secretary
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Secretary (2002) More at IMDbPro »

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Secretary (2002) -- A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.
Secretary (2002) -- Theatrical Preview

Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   25,955 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Steven Shainberg
Writers:
Erin Cressida Wilson (screenplay)
Mary Gaitskill (short story)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Secretary on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 November 2002 (Israel) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
Assume the position. more
Plot:
A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 17 nominations more
User Comments:
Not Your Typical Office Romance more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for strong sexuality, some nudity, depiction of behavioral disorders, and language.
Runtime:
104 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby SR
Company:
Slough Pond more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Gwyneth Paltrow was originally cast in the role of Lee Holloway. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Lee goes to Mr. Grey's office to apply for a job, rain falls only in the foreground. Closer observation shows that the background location is reasonably dry and not being rained on. more
Quotes:
E. Edward Grey: You’re Fired!
Lee: No, you’re Fired
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Indie Sex: Extremes (2007) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Summer of Love more

FAQ

What's up with the worm?
more
90 out of 106 people found the following comment useful:-
Not Your Typical Office Romance, 22 September 2002
8/10

Maggie Gyllenhaal deserves an Oscar nomination for her brilliant portrayal of borderline psychotic, self-mutilating Lee Holloway, a former mental institution patient seeking to sustain herself - vocationally and emotionally - in a challenging world where she has few safe harbors. She comes from a messy family background although that alone can't explain her illness.

Learning typing, she gets a secretary's job with lawyer E. Edward Grey (James Spader, who also turns in a first-rate, nuanced performance). Grey refuses to have any computers in his very smart, expensive law office. Like many lawyers he's a perfectionist who abhors typographical errors but his obsession with perfection reflects more than an anal personality hitched to a law degree. His solo practice seems to thrive better than his self-control of a suppressed sexuality, awakened by Maggie at first unknowingly.

This is a film about what many consider to be deviant behavior (sado-masochism and bondage-discipline, not your usual Hollywood romantic fun and games) that most will concur is uncommon in the workplace. Director Steven Shainberg and his cast - and Gyllenhaal and Spader carry the film, forget the supporting actors - show Lee and Grey's rocky and developing relationship with candor, without condemnation and without exploitation. The lawyer and his secretary are sexualized in a way few have experienced and those who have don't talk to folks outside their circle.

This is a black comedy/a black drama. It either grabs or repels the viewer: there's no in-between. The resolution? Is it realistic or a cop-out? I'd love to hear from those able to comment from experience on IMDb's discussion board. But I have a feeling few will post reactions.

A very different film that I rate 8/10 on a personal scale where I value the deep and tortured acting projecting the absorbing conflict of this sexualized working (initially) relationship.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Secretary (2002)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Last Scene vince-153
Can spanking a child be considered sexual abuse? RKent1989
Comfort Room Scene.. help.. glossed_lips04-1
The Worm..... philipleech
BDSM + lifestyle oldhollywoodbuff
Other similar films - help please! cazyrose
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