Secretary

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: B-     Film: B-

 

 

Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) has major personal issues.  She is lonely, has low self-esteem, she’s had to be institutionalized and still wants to mutilate herself.  Her father is an alcoholic, her mother passive, her sister getting married.  Where does that leave her?  With no solution, she decides to take a job, which leads her to be hired by lawyer E. Edward Grey (James Spader) as a Secretary.

 

Steven Shainberg’s 2002 feature film is as much about loneliness as it is about wild sexual hang-ups.  The sex, outrageous to the unprepared viewer, does to happen as often as it seems.  The film also has some fantasy moments that are played out ambiguously, but have to do with getting attention.  Shainberg co-wrote the story with screenplay writer Erin Cressida Wilson, who share a mixed audio commentary track.  They do break a little ground here, but this is no Eyes Wide Shut, though Shainberg mentions Kubrick early on over desired visuals.  That is often a sign the filmmaker will hit a limiting wall, and that is what happens.

 

Spader and Gyllenhaal are remarkable in their performances and I doubt this film could have been cast better.  Spader has often goes into unusual sexual territory (Mike Nichols’ Wolf, David Cronenberg’s Crash) and has proved to be one of the 1980s best actors well into the next century.  Gyllenhaal, like her brother Jake, has been in daring work too (Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko, John Waters’ Cecil B. Demented), so the two are matched well to begin with.  They carry a film that would have not worked as well with lesser actors.  You believe they both have private demons to be handled, if only they could find someone to help.

 

In each other, they may be able to, but are they too messed up personally to even come together as two emotionally and sexually crippled, damaged adults?  How adult are they?  At least they are not under delusions of normality, as most of the characters are in Todd Solondz’s Happiness (reviewed elsewhere on this site), but that does not necessarily help them solve things more easily.  The film does present their characters and problems with an honesty and authenticity rarely seen in films from anywhere, but the inexperience of the filmmakers stops the film from taking another step forward in the issues it deals with.  However, this is a good film that all adults should take the time to see and take on the challenge of the material.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is not bad, but has some limits in depth and fidelity as compared to the best transfers out there.  Color reproduction is decent and cinematographer Steven Fierberg is very consistent in creating an atmosphere that strongly benefits the film throughout.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has good Pro Logic surrounds, which benefit the dialogue-driven film, but there are moments of sound that exceeds talking.  These moments are a plus to the film.  Besides the commentary, there is also a behind-the-scenes piece on the film, both of which are not bad.  They show the direction the filmmakers were going and where they made it and did not.  Good disc.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo