“Why Ms. Holloway, you have the perfect assets required for this job.”
 

The Flick

Based partly on a short story called Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill and expanded for the big screen, Secretary offers an odd and somewhat dark and comical look at office romance. Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Dark Knight, Stranger Than Fiction) has a history of self abuse and symptoms of social development disorders.  After recovering from rehab for the aforementioned self harm she begins to finally live a normal life and establishes a healthy relationship with Peter (Jeremy Davies, Lost), a person she knew back in high school.  Despite her psychological history, attorney Edward Grey (James Spader, Wallstreet), hires her as a…wait for it…secretary.

Initially, her inability to perform the mundane tasks associated with the job pisses Edward off, but soon he starts to see her in a different light.  By light I mean he wants to get naked with her.  When his repeated bashing of her mistakes causes her to lean toward her previous life of self abuse, Edward intervenes and orders her to never hurt herself again. This action kick starts a BDSM relationship between the two that ultimately culminates with Lee falling in love with Edward.  He, on the other hand, becomes insecure after having sex with her and, like a good boss, fires her.  Peter eventually proposes to Lee – to which she agrees – but as she prepares and begins trying on dresses, she gets cold feet and runs for Edward.
 
I won’t spoil the rest, but regardless of the success of this movie, I imagine that no self-respecting female would appreciate sitting through its near two hour run time.  The submissive personality that Lee has is an extremely unhealthy one and the way Edward’s character takes advantage of it is ridiculous.  It’s not only psychologically damaging to both parties, it breaks almost every rule of office conduct and is highly unrealistic.  I feel like this film really blurs the lines between an art form and the taboo. You’ll see Lee grow and develop as a person because of their relationship, but you’ll wonder how and why.

With all that said, I can’t think of any straight man that doesn’t have an office romance fantasy and Secretary delivers enough sex appeal to keep you watching it through the end. In her first breakout performance, Maggie Gyllenhaal is amazing as the socially inept Lee.  Watching her struggle with her life and ultimately finding the strength to choose what she wants is rewarding – albeit disturbing – entertainment.  This film stands as a reminder of how A-list Gyllenhaal is.  Furthermore, the intensity of the role would have scared most actresses away.  In fact, she almost turned it down herself originally. I’m thankful she didn’t.

Audio and Video

The 1080p High Def widescreen presentation looks crisp with a solid transfer featuring some minor grain.  Another great job.  Other than an occasional background song you’ll recognize, the English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack consists mostly of dialogue.  The dialogue volume isn't consistent throughout, featuring occasional dips during conversations. It doesn't happen very often, but I noticed it throughout several viewings. There are also English and Spanish

Special Features and Packaging

Secretaryon Blu-ray comes as a single-disc collection with the following extras:

• Writer and Director Commentary
• Behind the Secretary featurette
• Photo Gallery

The commentary featuring director Steven Shainberg and writer Erin Cressida Wilson doesn’t offer a worthwhile experience.  It's extremely dull with a large amount of dead air throughout.  It sounds as if the studio heads held a gun to both of their heads and forced them to sit and provide commentary.  There's no enthusiasm heard from either of them as they drone on.  The behind the scenes featurette runs about seven minutes and is pretty standard fare.  It has some bits of interview material with Gyllenhaal and Spader talking briefly about their roles but that’s all that's worth watching here.

Overall

Maggie Gyllenhaal is exceptional in this film and she’ll keep you stuck to this until the credits roll. Its taboo themes might turn off some but Secretary offers an original experience that is sexy, funny and borders on shocking.

ComicsOnline gives Secretary on Blu-ray 3.5 out of 5 unhealthy relationships.
 

Buy Secretary on Blu-ray at Amazon.com now.

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