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NUMBERS
Box Office: $3,806,471
details...
CONSENSUS
Maggie Gyllenhaal impresses in this romantic comedy with a kinky twist.
CAST & CREW
Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Spader
Directed by Steven Shainberg
more...
SYNOPSIS
With sheer originality and bold,unflinching humor, Secretary embraces a most unconventional relationship and lays open the notion that love doesn't always occur in the traditional fashion. more...
MPAA RATING
R, for strong sexuality, some nudity, depiction of behavorial disorders, and language
RUNTIME
1 hour, 51 minutes
RELEASE DATES
Theatrical: Sep 20, 2002
Video: Apr 1, 2003
RELEASE COMPANY
Lions Gate Films
GENRE
Comedies, Dramas, Romance, Sex
OFFICIAL SITE
• The Official Secretary Site
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PARENTS EVALUATION
TRAILER & MEDIA
PHOTOS
TIDBITS
PRODUCTION NOTES
LINKS
SUBMIT/EDIT ARTICLE
SUBMIT USER REVIEW
FORUM
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 "The characters are more deeply thought through than in most 'right-thinking' films."
-- Erica Abeel, FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL
"One of the most significant moviegoing pleasures of the year."
-- Rod Armstrong, REEL.COM
"One of the best of a growing strain of daring films ... that argue that any sexual relationship that doesn't hurt anyone and works for its participants is a relationship that is worthy of our respect."
-- William Arnold, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
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Movies
Secretary
Director: Steven Shainberg
Starring: Lesley Ann Warren, James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies
(R, 104 min.)
Secretary is a testament to the importance of tonality in telling a story."
-- Marjorie Baumgarten, AUSTIN CHRONICLE
 "…it wasn’t the subject matter that ultimately defeated the film…It was the unfulfilling, incongruous, "wait a second, did I miss something?" ending."
-- Rob Blackwelder, SPLICEDWIRE
"Unless there are whips, chains or a whole lot of black leather in your closet, "Secretary" is probably not an ideal date movie."
-- Jeffrey Bruner, DES MOINES REGISTER
"Secretary is not a movie about fetishism. It is a movie about passion."
-- Carlo Cavagna, ABOUTFILM.COM
"A sly female empowerment movie, although not in a way anyone would expect."
-- Jeffrey Chen, WINDOW TO THE MOVIES
"it sounds sick and twisted, but the miracle of Shainberg's film is that it truly is romance"
-- Laura Clifford, REELING REVIEWS
"For grownups only, this is a sort of...romance."
-- Linda Cook, QUAD CITY TIMES (DAVENPORT, IA)
"A different kind of love story - one that is dark, disturbing, painful to watch, yet compelling."
-- Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, THEMOVIECHICKS.COM
"Contradicts everything we’ve come to expect from movies nowadays. Instead of simply handling conventional material in a conventional way, Secretary takes the most unexpected material and handles it in the most unexpected way."
-- Mark Dujsik, MARK REVIEWS MOVIES
"If you don't flee, you might be seduced. If you don't laugh, flee."
-- David Elliott, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
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"It does what good films do best; that is to provoke us, push our buttons, make us think and maybe even entertain us in the process."
-- Merle Bertrand, FILM THREAT
"Despite its flaws, Secretary stays in your head and makes you question your own firmly held positions."
-- Jay Boyar, ORLANDO SENTINEL
"A strangely compelling and brilliantly acted psychological drama."
-- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH
"The Graduate by way of humiliation and water sports."
-- Walter Chaw, FILM FREAK CENTRAL
"Some people want the ol’ ball-and-chain and then there are those who just want the Ball and Chain."
-- Erik Childress, EFILMCRITIC.COM
"Secretary” is owned by its costars, Spader and Gyllenhaal. Maggie G. makes an amazing breakthrough in her first starring role and eats up the screen."
-- Robin Clifford, REELING REVIEWS
"All this turns out to be neither funny nor provocative - only dull."
-- David Cornelius, AMAZING COLOSSAL WEBSITE
"Shainberg weaves a carefully balanced scenario that is controlled by neither character, is weirdly sympathetic to both and manages to be tender and darkly comic."
-- Duane Dudek, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
"Notwithstanding my problem with the movie's final half hour, I'm going to recommend SECRETARY, based on the wonderful acting clinic put on by Spader and Gyllenhaal, and also the unique way Shainberg goes about telling what at heart is a sweet little girl-"
-- Matt Easterbrook, MATT'S MOVIE REVIEWS
"If you like your comedy dark and slightly freaky, then Steve Shainberg's film deserves your attention."
-- Marshall Fine, JOURNAL NEWS
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FRESH 75%
Avg. Rating: 6.5/10 |
"Makes S&M seem very romantic, and Maggie Gyllenhaal is a delight."
-- John Anderson, NEWSDAY
"The movie enters a realm where few non-porn films venture, and comes across as darkly funny, energetic, and surprisingly gentle."
-- James Berardinelli, JAMES BERARDINELLI'S REELVIEWS
"Depending upon your reaction to this movie, you may never again be able to look at a red felt Sharpie pen without disgust, a thrill, or the giggles."
-- Ty Burr, BOSTON GLOBE
"Secretary is just too original to be ignored."
-- Mike Clark, USA TODAY
"For all the dolorous trim, Secretary is a genial romance that maintains a surprisingly buoyant tone throughout, notwithstanding some of the writers' sporadic dips into pop Freudianism."
-- Manohla Dargis, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"Secretary manages a neat trick, bundling the flowers of perversity, comedy and romance into a strangely tempting bouquet of a movie."
-- Robert Denerstein, DENVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
"The director, Steven Shainberg, has succeeded by focusing intently on his characters, making them quirky individuals rather than figures of fun."
-- Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"The cast comes through even when the movie doesn't."
-- Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
"The movie isn't painfully bad, something to be 'fully experienced'; it's just tediously bad, something to be fully forgotten."
-- Rick Groen, GLOBE AND MAIL
"Though it was made with careful attention to detail and is well-acted by James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal, I felt disrespected."
-- Eric Harrison, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
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"Before it takes a sudden turn and devolves into a bizarre sort of romantic comedy, Steven Shainberg's adaptation of Mary Gaitskill's harrowing short story ... is a brilliantly played, deeply unsettling experience."
-- Ken Fox, TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE
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* Who are the Approved Tomatometer Critics?
* Mouse over a tomato icon for a publication's original rating. Original rating not available for every publication.
* In fairness to critics whose last name begins with a letter at the end of the alphabet, certain pages are sorted in reverse order, z-a.
* Certain "Secretary" article data provided by the Movie Review Query Engine.
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greeneggshamlet
| Why you should get to know me: "Dwight is anything but conventional — he even puts his shoes and pants on in unconventional ways." |
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