Slant Magazine
The film treats the subject of S&M with a kind of confused interest worthy of Madonna.
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Secretary
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. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal (who was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe for this role), and James Spader (Sex, Lies and Videotape).
2002Rating: R104 minsUSA
ComedyDramaFestival & Independent
Secretary | Awards
Winner of the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Originality, 2002.
Secretary | Reviews
77%158 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
San Francisco Chronicle
It provokes nothing but yawns, and the sex it explores is stuff everybody knows about and says, 'So what?'
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BBC
Profound, witty and insightful... are probably three of the things "Secretary" wants to be. Unfortunately, with its slight, overstretched story, and facile moral, this Sundance Festival winner disappoints.
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Roger Ebert
Approaches the tricky subject of sadomasochism with a stealthy tread, avoiding the dangers of making it either too offensive, or too funny.
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Film Threat
As darkly comic as it is, Shainberg’s picture addresses themes that are deadly serious.
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Entertainment Weekly
Sadomasochism is treated as a joke in Secretary, but the fun of the movie is that it’s also much more than a joke.
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