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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 22 2009, 05:18 AM (221 Views) | |
| bloggyelf | Oct 22 2009, 05:18 AM Post #1 |
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Evil Halfling
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this film was billed as a dark romantic comedy, but i have to disagree with that. it did not strike me as a comedy at all. the movie was disturbing and at times brutal. the basic story is that emotionally unstable young Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) finds herself working as a secretary for lawyer Edward Grey (James Spader) and soon enters into a sexual relationship with him, but one that is abusive to say the least. the movie focuses almost entirely on Lee and her relationship with Grey, and the other characters are very minor. this is not necessarily a bad thing, as two-person films can be very well done (Same Time Next Year comes to mind). the character studies were well done, and the performances were quite good as well. i'm never really liked James Spader but he did a good job as the sadistic and controlling Edward Grey. i was particularly impressed with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who i had not seen before, as Lee. her performance was consistently outstanding throughout the film. she's also quite beautiful and i plan to have a look at some of her other work. and dang it she reminds me of another actress but i can't place who. the relationship itself could be described as sadomasochistic, abusive, or self-destructive, and also at times unrealistic (a scene near the end where Lee sits at a desk almost immobile for 3 days is absurd). maybe the fact that this sort of material is labelled as comedy is a sign of the times. but i didn't find Secretary to be funny or romantic. at times i was a bit put off by it. but it is worth a look for the character study and for the strong performances. |
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