'Secretary' deals with a daring and original subject and does this in an effective and funny way. Its subject is sadomasochism, its genre is a romantic comedy. The secretary is Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal),who suffers from self-mutilation, her boss is Mr. Grey (James Spader),who seems the coldest man alive. When they are in the same room you feel that there is something there, they both feel it too. Since the movie opens with a certain S/M scene we already know that there is a point in the movie where the two must find each other and start the sadomasochism activities. I will not reveal how and when it happens, but the moment is great.

Saying too much about the story would spoil things. We laugh at the right times, which is a good thing. Considering the subject it is even hard to accomplish that since people who are not familiar with it laugh very easy when they see strange things. For most audiences the events will be strange. The original approach of the movie, the performances perfect for this movie, the funny moments and an ending that plays exactly as it should this is a good movie and one of the most original romantic comedies I have seen.

Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) leaves institutionalization to attend her sister's wedding. She has been harming herself since the seventh grade. Her father is an abusive drunk to her co-dependent mother. She reconnects with Peter (Jeremy Davies) who had a mental breakdown of his own. She gets a job as a secretary to attorney E. Edward Grey (James Spader). She finds comfort in the menial and sometimes demeaning tasks. Eventually, they develop a special relationship.

These are interesting characters. The movie keeps a sense of sexiness while maintaining a low level of tension. It would have been great to have a higher level of tension. Maggie Gyllenhaal is amazing. It just doesn't have a great sense of danger. It's not titillating. It's a nice character study but I'm looking for something more.

Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a self-destructive and submissive woman, with suicide tendencies, who has just left a sanatorium after a breakdown. She has a kind of kit in a box for self-inflicting pain when she feels in trouble. Lee decides to get a typing course and when she finishes it, she decides to look for a job of secretary. She finds an advertisement in the newspaper, goes to an office, and the lawyer E. Edward Grey (James Spader) hires her. The details is that Edward is sadistic and a very dominating man, who humiliates Lee most of the time. Of course they will fall in love for each other, after many funny situations. This low budget movie is a wonderful unconventional romantic comedy, one of the weirdest I have ever seen, supported by excellent lead actor and actress and an original screenplay. The always-excellent James Spader is one of my favorite actors, and Maggie Gyllenhaal gives also an extraordinary performance in this film. The situations that Lee uses to tease Edward are hilarious. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): ` Secretária' (` Secretary')