Secretary (2002)

	Directed by: Steven Shamberg	COUNTRY USA GENRE Erotic drama/Romance NORWEGIAN TITLE Secretary RUNNING TIME 107 minutes
	Produced by: Steven Shamberg Andrew Fierberg Amy Hobby
	Written by (based on the short story by Mary Gaitskill): Erin Cressida Wilson

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
E. Edward Grey	James Spader
Lee Holloway	Maggie Gyllenhaal	½
Peter	Jeremy Davies	½
Dr. Twardon	Patrick Bauchau	-
Burt Holloway	Stephen McHattie	-
Jonathan	Oz Perkins	-
Tricia O'Connor	Jessica Tuck	-
Joan Holloway	Lesley Ann Warren	-

Review

After having once forced myself through David Cronenberg's very peculiar Crash, I never thought I’d find myself enjoying a performance by James Spader as a character with unusual sexual preferences. However, in Steven Shainberg’s inventive Secretary, both Spader’s introspective and repressed E. Edward Grey and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s wonderfully quirky Lee Holloway are thematic and stylistic sensations. Secretary unfolds with such shameless confidence and spontaneous playfulness that it comes across as a seductive splash of colour. In addition to the oddities and unusual charm of the two leads, Shainberg also demonstrates an undeniable talent for delicate compositions and alluring colour palettes. Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite stick the landing, as by the end, the film becomes too preoccupied with providing answers and tying up narrative arcs. What a unique story like this doesn’t need is an undue desire to "normalise" it all in the sugary spirit of family traditions. By preserving more of the mystery surrounding Spader’s character and (naturally) omitting the tiresomely typical media circus introduced in the final act, Shainberg’s abstract world would have retained more of its immediate appeal. Still, by that point, we’ve already been seduced, engaged, and perhaps even slightly sexually aroused.