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Secretary (2003) DVD Review
Secretary (2003) DVD Credits:
Secretary (2003) Directed by:
Steven Shainberg
Secretary (2003) Written by:
Erin Wilson, Steven Shainberg, Mary Gaitskill
Secretary (2003) Cast:
James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies, Lesley Warren, Stephen McHattie, Patrick Bauchau, Jessica Tuck, Oz Perkins, Amy Locane, Mary Joy
Secretary (2003) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Secretary (2003) DVD Release Date:
14th July 2008
Our Rating: Extras Rating:

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Secretary (2003) Synopsis:

Lee Holloway is a smart, quirky woman in her twenties who returns to her hometown in New Jersey after a brief stay in a mental hospital. In search of relief from herself and her oppressive childhood environment, she starts to date a nerdy friend from high school and takes a job as a secretary in a local law firm. She soon develops an obsessive crush on her older boss, Mr. Grey. Through their increasingly bizarre relationship, Lee follows her deepest longings to the heights of masochism and finally to a place of self-affirmation.

Secretary (2003) DVD Review:

Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhall, Donnie Darko, Sherry Baby) is a socially and emotionally awkward young woman. She has just been release from the hospital after having severely injuring herself during a bout of self-harming. Lee is a cutter, but this time she accidentally cut too deep. She now has to begin to readjust to normal life trying to fit in once again with her parents and their friends, but they all treat her with kid gloves, afraid to mistakenly set her off. Lee begins to try her hand at dating again as well, when she starts to see a relatively shy young blue collar worker named Peter.

In junior college Lee studied the secretarial arts where she seemed to have excelled, a talent that Lee is able to capitalize on when she takes a job for attorney E. Edward Grey, (James Spader, sex, lies and videotape, Pretty in Pink) who hires her despite her obvious awkward social skills and horrifically unprofessional appearance.

It turns out that E. Edward Grey is a stickler for typing errors. He openly humiliates her, and verbally berates her for the errors as he proofreads each letter with a red Sharpie. Lee reacts to this in a highly submissive manner and even returns to her old cutting failsafe, but E. Edward Grey puts a stop to it. Very soon it becomes apparent that he is finding a strange sexual release from her submissive nature, and they quickly move into a bizarre bondage/sadomasochism relationship of punishment and humiliation. E. Edward Grey does help to cure Lee of her cutting compulsions when he confronts her on it, and commands her to never cut herself again. The bizarre sexual nature of their relationship begins to bolster Lee’s confidence and poise as she both falls in love with E. Edward Grey and works to become a much better secretary.

Much like sex, lies and videotape, Secretary is a sort of non-erotic erotic thriller. The film examines the relatively taboo aspect of bondage and sadomasochism. The film winds up becoming a sort of twisted and bizarre romance film about two people, both of whom suffer from a certain degree of self loathing, finding love in an unusual place.

This DVD re-release, a term used loosely, since there is no actual change between the 2003 release of the film and this new version. The only noticeable difference is the inclusion of a cardboard sleeve that goes over the outside of the DVD case. The sleeve features different artwork. The bonus features seem to be the same, as does the film’s presentation specs.

The DVD re-release includes the feature film presented in widescreen with a 5.1 stereo surround soundtrack. The disc bonus features includes a writer and director audio commentary, a photo gallery and a behind the scenes featurette.

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Secretary (2003) DVD review written by: Andrew Mattson

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