Secretary

2002
18
1h 47m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

103K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

427

James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary (2002)

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99+ Photos

Dark Comedy Romantic Comedy Steamy Romance Workplace Drama Comedy Drama Romance

A timid young woman starts working for a demanding lawyer and finds a new way to deal with her self-harming urges.A timid young woman starts working for a demanding lawyer and finds a new way to deal with her self-harming urges.A timid young woman starts working for a demanding lawyer and finds a new way to deal with her self-harming urges.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

103K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

427

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 15 wins & 26 nominations total

Videos2

Photos141

+ 134

Iconic On-Screen Romances

Take a look at some of the most swoon-worthy pairings in movies and on TV.

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Photos

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
In a 2018 interview Maggie Gyllenhaal called her role in Secretary "the first time that I was given a role where I could express something about myself," describing taking the role of Lee as an opportunity to "explore something that's on the edge of what I know about myself but with the protection of fiction." She also gave director Steven Shainberg a lot of credit for his collaborative approach, describing him as "interested in me as an artist, was interested in what I was offering, and the way that shifted the story, as opposed to whatever he had imagined before I got there."

Goofs
All the cars in the film have Florida license plates on the front of the car. Florida only has back plates.

Quotes
[Lee talks about Mr. Grey and how in love she is with him]
Lee: [narrating] In one way or another, I've always suffered. I didn't know why, exactly. But I do know that I'm not so scared of suffering now. I feel more than I've ever felt, and I've found someone to feel with, to play with, to love, in a way that feels right for me. I hope he knows that I can see that he suffers, too. And that I want to love him.

Crazy credits
The legal disclaimer has typing errors:
"fictitious" is misspelled "ficticious"
"unintentional" is misspelled "unitentional"
unauthorized use of the film is warned as resulting in "civil liberty" instead of "civil liability"

Connections
Featured in Late Show with David Letterman: Episode #10.42 (2002)

Soundtracks
Whatchamacallit
Performed by Juan García Esquivel (as Esquivel)
Written by Juan García Esquivel (as Juan Garcia Esquivel)
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, a unit of BMG Entertainment
Under license from BMG Special Products

User reviews455

Featured review

7/10

Original filmmaking

Maggie and James the two leads are both excellent in this intriguing story of a sub/dom relationship. Overall it has a Lynchian feel to it with the costume and sets looking sumptuous with the right level of oddness and attention to detail to be humorous. The dramatic part does however let it down. With it being so deadpan and overt in nature the emotional connection to the characters was never that strong.

This is a film i doubt many would be brave enough to make today and it is handled very well and for that it is to be celebrated.