I am a huge James Spader fan and have seen virtually everything he has done. This film was seemingly scripted just for him. His Character, E. Edward Grey, Attorney at Law, is very complex, sexually intriguing and direct, much like he plays in other roles. Still, Spader is very compelling to watch.
However, the movie overall was a bit bizarre and frustrating at times to watch. Produced as a dark/black comedy, Secretary had some far-fetched areas that I just had a hard time relating to. But for James Spader, the movie may not have worked for me.
The movie begins with Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) being released from an asylum. We soon learn that she is a ’’cutter’’, mutilating herself with razer blades. Her Mother (Leslie Ann Warren) is an enabler and her father (Stephen McHattie) a drunk. Put them together and you have the ultimate dysfunctional family.
Lee finds herself in a state and decides to throw her sewing kit in the trash, which is the means of her cutting, when she sees the classified section of the newspaper and she circles the SECRETARY WANTED area. This is a perfect situation for her since she has just received her certification as a typist-She has even scored the highest marks of her class. She then finds herself in front of Spader’s office. She should have seen the warning sign-’’Secretary needed’’ lit up with Christmas lights. When the position is available it is lit, when she is hired, it is off. She should have known from the sign that she was doomed.
Any ’’healthy-minded’’ person would have kept walking!
Spader plays the odd perfectionist. He does not have computers, only a typewriter, a whole slew of Red Markers in perfect alignment (for corrections) and an attitude. The perfect Spader facade. As the two get along rather well, Spader the Sadist and Lee the Masochist, they come to be dysfunctional together. Spader plays on Lee’s weakness and scolds her every time she makes a mistake, marks her work in red and has her re-do each one. He even goes so far as to post her mistake-ridden letters in frames on the wall. Once she figures out that she likes the new form of pain that he provides, she makes many more mistakes. Her reward is being swatted on her behind as she leans over the desk, reading her mistake-ridden letters.
There is a very interesting moment that truly connects the two and makes us sympathetic to the issue of cutting and what Lee is all about. Spader is very tender and sits right beside Lee. He tells her that he understands why she cuts herself. It is because there is deep pain insider her and she must cut to get to that pain. The blood is a sign that the pain is at the surface and her bandaging is the repair stage. Whenever she gets frustrated and angry (or hurt), she is compelled to cut herself. After meeting Spader, she replaces cutting with this new form of mutilation.
The relationship is simple but then again not so. Spader is so complex and we are not too sure exactly what his issue is other than being obsessive and compulsive. He is sexually frustrated but not impotent. He is attracted to Lee but then not. The ultimate test comes toward the end of the movie when Spader fires Lee and she will not leave. He tells her to just stay there and watches outside the window while she asserts herself. At this point she is completely opposite to where she started in the movie. Interestingly enough, so is Spader, although I am not sure exactly how he arrived there.
By the end of the movie, you see succinctly how Lee transforms but Spader/Grey is far more complex. I am not convinced that as OCD and Sadist as he is that that loving, accepting person we see. I do recommend this movie and hope that you will see the idiosyncracies of each behaviour. However, this movie is not for everyone. It is not a blockbuster, but it is Spader at his ’’among the best’’ performances. If you do not appreciate Spader, this movie is NOT for you!