Hey folks, Harry here... bummer, our spy named SPYder can't get into see Cronenberg's SPIDER... Typical. Sigh... However, in a way that's good... we all know we'll see SPIDER for ourselves when it hits, but did you know you had to see SECRETARY? Well now you do, this sounds exceptional. Here goes that venom spitting arachnid...
Hello again, Head Geek,
SPYder, here, with a little bit of irony on this fine French morning. I can’t get tickets to “Spider.” How’s that for a fine how-do-you-do? Evidently, Mr. Cronenberg’s latest project is in such great demand that my fine Web du Cannes can’t seem to pick up tickets for my own darn namesake.
C’est la vie.
That’s alright, really, because his stuff usually freaks me out. I caught “eXistenz” in theaters and “Videodrome” on DVD just last month. Wildly imaginative, but always just a little messed up. Apparently, that is in demand in Cannes.
I did, however, manage to spin my way into a screening of “Secretary” last night, and thought I ought to share my good fortune with my fellow AICN readers. I’ve heard that “Secretary” screened at Sundance this year, so I don’t know if you’ve already posted a review for it. I missed it if you did. Here’s my own contribution to the review pile.
“Secretary” stars Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Riding in Cars with Boys,” “Donnie Darko,” “40 Days and 40 Nights”) as Lee Holloway, a young lady with some fairly serious personal issues who tries to straighten out her life by finding work as the secretary for E. Edward Gray, Esq., played beautifully by James Spader (“Stargate,” “Wolf,” “Supernova” and many others).
After a very odd and memorable opening sequence, we pick up with Lee’s release from a mental institution on the day of her sister’s wedding. Through the wedding reception we get a sense of Lee’s family dynamic and just why she was in the institution in the first place. She is a girl who has had problems, and really wants to get better. She’s just having difficulty figuring out how to do it. She decides to get a job, takes a class to learn typing, and hits the help wanted ads. Her typing scores in hand, she heads off to the office of E. Edward Gray, Esq., a man who obviously goes through secretaries rather quickly. In a very strange and unusual way, Gray represents the solution to Lee’s problems. I’m not going to get too much more into the plot, because it’s rather fun to watch it unfold.
I’ll deal with the most prominent issue first. When people hear about this movie, they’ll undoubtedly first learn of the S&M aspect of the relationships depicted in “Secretary.” Yes, there are those elements in the picture. I’m concerned that people won’t be able to get beyond that inevitably sensationalized aspect and will fail to see what is, at its heart, a relationship picture. In a very quirky way, “Secretary” could be described as a romantic comedy; albeit one with an edge. People are often uncomfortable with portrayals of S&M and fail to empathize or even sympathize with the characters in those stories. (I know I cringe whenever I see those folks who love to be suspended by wires attached to rings pierced into their backs.)
Within the context of the story, though, it all kind of makes sense. Lee is a girl with particular and considerable emotional luggage. Most guys can’t handle that, no matter how hard they try or how nice they are. There are certain kinds of guys who can, though, and that’s what Spader’s character represents. “Secretary” is about a girl who is trying to find what’s right for her and her life, a man she can love and who can fulfill all her needs. In the end, “Secretary” is about finding out who you are and finding someone who you can truly love and who will love you back.
It just happens to have some slightly freaky S&M stuff in it. It’s not so much sexual, though, more about dominance and submission. Don’t let that freak you out, though, because it works. Some of the more conservative readers won’t get it and may not like it. That’s okay. “Secretary” may not be for everyone, but it was a very good movie.
Maggie Gyllenhall is great in the role, combining elements of the quiet girl next door with the same sweet and sexy nature that Kirsten Dunst exudes in her work. She can go from frumpy and bottled up to confident and sexy with a sweet smile all the way. Being able to handle the role of Lee demonstrates her own talent, because it can’t be easy to make her plight believable and even sympathetic. She does, though, which is essential to keep the audience involved in the story, and believing and caring for this girl who represents what is to most people an extreme way of experiencing pleasure.
James Spader rocked. His part was a hard one that in the hands of a less talented actor would have been farcical. He makes the character of Edward believable, and even likeable, which given Edward’s disposition is saying something. It’s such a shame that the only other thing I’ve seen around here with his name on it is something called “Alien Hunter” from Millennium Films, which will probably never get made. Spader is a true talent that ought to be getting more and better roles than “Supernova.” Hopefully, “Secretary” will help pull him out of his funk of obscurity.
I didn’t catch any information about who has what rights on “Secretary,” but I suspect that it will be snatched up for the art-house circuit any day now. If you think you can hack it, go check it out. If you don’t want to admit to your friends that you want to see it, then rent the DVD when it comes out.
--SPYder, out.
