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Secretary Details

2002 Certificate 18 Certificate 18
  • 60
  • from 26,092 members

The masochist says to the sadist, "Hurt me." The sadist replies, "No." Everybody's happy. This strange balance plays heavily into the Steven Shainberg-directed SECRETARY, based on a short story by Mary Gaitskill. Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a troubled young woman with a secret, destructive addiction fueled by her mother'.. Read more

Starring James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies, Lesley Ann Warren
Director Steven Shainberg
Genres Comedy, Drama, Romance

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Secretary

The masochist says to the sadist, "Hurt me." The sadist replies, "No." Everybody's happy. This strange balance plays heavily into the Steven Shainberg-directed SECRETARY, based on a short story by Mary Gaitskill. Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a troubled young woman with a secret, destructive addiction fueled by her mother's overprotectiveness and her father's alcoholism. Sheltered and wholly dependent on other people, Lee's only form of self-expression is in this private, painful habit. That is, until she meets her new boss, the lawyer E. Edward Gray (James Spader), who hires her as his secretary. It is exciting for Lee to hold down a job, even if she is a basket case in the office. Mr. Gray watches Lee, studies her, and slowly begins to correct both her typing errors and her personality flaws. At first Mr. Gray's dominance appears scary and overbearing, a true threat to Lee's naive, fragile psyche. But as the film carefully develops these unique characters, revealing their odd strengths and weaknesses, it becomes delightfully clear that Lee and Mr. Gray can genuinely help each other. SECRETARY is a bright, atmospheric movie that shines a light on the "fun" in this dysfunctional relationship, while using brilliant performances by Gyllenhaal and Spader to illustrate the benefits of sadomasochistic love.

Starring James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies, Lesley Ann Warren
Director Steven Shainberg
Studio TARTAN VIDEO
Run time DVD: 1 hr 47 mins
LOVEFiLM Instant: 1 hr 46 mins
Certificate Certificate 18 DVD
Certificate 18 LOVEFiLM Instant
Collections Post-Match Passion
Genres Comedy, Drama, Romance
Language DVD: English
LOVEFiLM Instant: English
Released Production year: 2002

On LOVEFiLM Instant:
LOVEFiLM Instant: 27 Dec 2010

To Rent:
DVD: 29 Sep 2003
LOVEFiLM Instant Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant. Subscribe.

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Rating breakdown

26,092 Member ratings
  • 100
2,395
  • 90
2,174
  • 80
4,360
  • 70
4,273
  • 60
4,461
  • 50
2,804
  • 40
2,100
  • 30
1,477
  • 20
1,296
  • 10
752

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    • Secretary

    • Secretary
      The masochist says to the sadist, "Hurt me." The sadist replies, "No." Everybody's happy. This strange balance plays heavily into the Steven Shainberg-directed SECRETARY, based on a short story by Mary Gaitskill. Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a troubled young woman with a secret, destructive ...

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