A tender look at sadomasochism

Steven Shainberg's new film is the kind that would get people talking if more people got out to see it. Winner of the Special Jury Prize for Originality at this year's Sundance Film Festival, "Secretary" is a rare film, indeed, a romantic dramedy that dares to challenge our assumed positions on the true nature of happiness, love and fulfillment.\n"Secretary" is the story of Lee Holloway, played with bright-eyed magnificence by Maggie Gyllenhaal. A recovering self-mutilator, Lee looks for something else to occupy her time, and she finds it working as the secretary for paralegal E. Edward Grey (James Spader). From the moment these two come together, there is no mistaking the chemistry between them and that their relationship as employer and employee is little less than role-playing.\nThis is where things really get interesting and, for some, uneasy with "Secretary." Edward and Lee as paralegal and secretary quickly become Edward and Lee as dominant and submissive, and Miss Holloway begins to habitually irk her Mr. E in order to receive thorough spankings for her mistakes.\nThis is where Shainberg and his talented crew truly shine. When dealing with such socially taboo subjects as sadomasochism, the celluloid world tends to lean either toward the darkly disturbing (à la "Blue Velvet") or the absurdly comedic (via "Exit to Eden").\nNot so with "Secretary." Instead, we are given two characters who are tremendously needy and find fulfillment in one another, regardless of how strange their relationship may look to the rest of the world.\nThe tone of "Secretary" is the absolutely crucial key-pin in holding the film together, and Shainberg, along with the excellent Spader and Gyllenhaal, knows exactly when to draw both our compassion and our laughter.\nThis is one of the most honest and heartfelt films to deal with S & M in recent years; its only setback is its reliance on the stereotype that emotionally challenged individuals are the major representatives of this lifestyle. Overall, though, this film is worth your time and money and does what more films should try to do: open your mind to a new world.