Somewhere inside even the most cynical of us is the hope that all people have someone out there for them - "Secretary" does a valiant job of upholding that dream.
The movie, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lee Holloway and James Spader as Mr. E. Edward Grey, takes a deliciously dark spin on what romance and love can be. Based on the short story "Secretary" from Mary Gaitskill's collection Bad Behavior, the film has gathered attention due to its sadistic/masochistic connotations. It is directed by Steven Sheinberg and won a special jury prize for originality at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
While "Secretary" is definitely rooted in the dominant/submissive S&M relationship, the story is about how two broken people can find love together. Gyllenhaal's Lee is a withdrawn young woman who was recently released from the mental hospital, where she was sent when her parents discovered her cutting habit.
She goes back to her home in suburban hell with her alcoholic father, her creepy, needy mother and her superficial sister, who lives with her husband in the pool house. Lee then attends a community college and gets her typing scores.
Mr. Grey enters the film when Lee applies for a job to be his secretary. Spader does a fantastic job of portraying the neurotic, mysterious lawyer who begins to bring Lee out of her isolated shell and into the world at large in what could be considered a twisted fashion.
These are two complex characters struggling to be themselves in a society that rejects who they are simply on principle. It also shows something that many people misperceive about S&M relationships - the participants are not necessarily survivors of abuse or chemically imbalanced in any way.
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Lee was never shown in the movie to have been physically abused and cutting was her release of her pain. While Mr. Grey is mysterious throughout, it is clear that he is not an abuser. In fact, he deeply affects the people around him and though his way of loving isn't the norm, he is capable of loving deeper and more intensely than anyone else.
And like other romantic comedies, Mr. Grey takes awhile to come around but Lee is determined to convince him that they are perfect for each other. She is the romantic heroine who likes to be spanked. In this world no one is perfect, and neither are these two characters.
Lee does try to embrace that "normality" foisted on her by societal pressures. She has a boyfriend, Peter, played by Jeremy Davies, who simply can't satisfy her because his idea of love is not her idea of love. Compatibility truly plays a huge factor in this story.
This is a sweet, funny and endearing movie with a huge twist that gives those of us who can't be put in a little box with the rest of the world a knowing smile. Test the bounds of convention and go see this wonderful movie.
"Secretary" is being shown at Madstone Theater at 6311 San Mateo Blvd. NE. Call 872-4000 for show times.
