Secretary (2002)
84%RT Audience Score: 82%
Awards & Nominations: 15 wins & 26 nominations
Maggie Gyllenhaal impresses in this romantic comedy with a kinky twist
Secretary is a movie that manages to be both sweet and subversive, which is quite the feat considering it’s about sadomasochism. James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal have a chemistry that’s both hushed and hilarious, and Gyllenhaal’s performance is a tour de force. It’s a wicked little off-beat love story that’s simultaneously funny, sympathetic, and really, really hot. Plus, it’s always fun to see the original Mr. Gray in action.
Production Company(ies)
Maïa Films, Arte France Cinéma Les Films, d’ Ici
Distributor
Lionsgate Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
The Darkroom, 5370 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong sexuality, some nudity, depiction of behavioral disorders, and language
Year of Release
2002
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 52m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 20, 2002 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2003
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Spader, Jeremy Davies, Patrick Bauchau, Stephen McHattie, Oz Perkins, directed by Steven Shainberg, written by Mary Gaitskill, Steven Shainberg, Erin Cressida Wilson, produced by Andrew Fierberg, Amy Hobby, Michael Roban, drama, R rating, box office gross $4.0M, budget unknown, reviewed by Barbara Ellen, Candice Frederick, Owen Gleiberman, David Ansen, Alexander Walker, Sara Michelle Fetters, James Croot, Casey Cipriani, Anton Bitel, Lindy West, Brooke Corso, sadomasochism, mental institution, secretary, attorney, romantic comedy, kinky twist, emotional problems, overbearing parents, dating, sadomasochistic relationship, strong sexuality, Lionsgate Films, surround sound, Dolby Stereo, flat aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $9,304,609
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $15,432,276
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,808
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,682,909
US/Canada gross: $4,059,680
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,733,233
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,723
US/Canada opening weekend: $182,306
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $302,366
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,541
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $6,634,250
Production budget ranking: 1,815
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $3,572,544
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $5,225,482
ROI to date (est.): 51%
ROI ranking: 1,144
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Lee Holloway
Jeremy Davies – Peter
Patrick Bauchau – Dr. Twardon
Stephen McHattie – Burt Holloway
Oz Perkins – Jonathan
Andrew Fierberg – Producer
Amy Hobby – Producer
Michael Roban – Producer
Steven Shainberg – Director, Writer
Mary Gaitskill – Writer
Erin Cressida Wilson – Writer
Director(s)
Steven Shainberg
Writer(s)
Mary Gaitskill, Steven Shainberg, Erin Cressida Wilson, Erin Cressida Wilson
Producer(s)
Andrew Fierberg, Amy Hobby, Michael Roban
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
15 wins & 26 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (157) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (122) | Rotten (35)
Spader handles a tricky role beautifully, but this is Gyllenhaals’s tour de force. She is remarkable and original.
January 2, 2018
Barbara Ellen
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
… Secretary shows how one woman stopped at nothing to get her love. But I’m still scratching my head at the whole thing.
September 11, 2017 | Rating: B
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
September 7, 2011 | Rating: A-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
A feel-good movie about sadomasochism, the seriocomic Secretary manages to be simultaneously subversive and sweet…In the wrong hands, the conceit could have turned ugly and offensive. But Spader and Gyllenhaal have a hushed, hilarious chemistry.
November 1, 2007
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
What a surprise Secretary turns out to be. Freshly conceived, small-scale and daring.
December 15, 2003
Alexander Walker
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Spader plays Lee as if possessed by Edward G. Robinson – not from his gangster days, but rather from his time working with Fritz Lange in classic noirs like The Woman in the Window.
June 19, 2003 | Rating: 3.5/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
A wicked little off-beat love story.
January 6, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
James Croot
Stuff.co.nz
Presenting the original Mr. Gray. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Lee Halloway and James Spader’s E. Edward Gray are a top notch duo of lawyer and secretary…
November 16, 2020
Casey Cipriani
Bustle
all at once a post-feminist fairy tale about the flowering self-realisation of a young woman, a parable of therapeutic recovery, and an allegory of office politics – but ultimately Lee seems far easier to tie up than to pin down.
March 15, 2020
Anton Bitel
Projected Figures
[Secretary] manages the impossible trifecta of being simultaneously funny, sympathetic, and really, really hot.
August 25, 2017
Lindy West
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
This is a film that is in on the joke but doesn’t make light of its subject matter.
August 16, 2017
Brooke Corso
The Monitor (McAllen, TX)
Shainberg sets up a restless quality in both characters, and he takes them very seriously but it still comes as a bit of shock to see what is normally considered to be sexist behavior finally and ultimately embraced.
June 12, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4
Eric Melin
Lawrence.com…
Plot
An emotionally fragile woman recently released from a mental hospital for self mutilation goes to school to gain secretarial skills to gain employment. She has an alcoholic father and a co-dependent mother who are clueless as to who she really is which a tormented soul who really wants to find something with which she can find success. She is a great secretary and finds a job with a unique, old fashioned, but off center in charge boss with a somewhat sadistic sexual proclivity. She grows and evolves and so does he.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels praises Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “remarkable and original” performance in Secretary.
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