There's a girl I know. At one time, she was my girlfriend, but that was a long time ago. We've remained good friends over the years, and I'm really happy about that, but she worries me. See, this girl has a serious disorder. She's a "cutter." For those of you who don't know, a cutter is a person (usually female) who purposely cuts her skin when she feels overwhelmed with anger, sadness, or some other negative emotion. I've heard "self-mutilation" used, and that may be more accurate since its not always limited to cutting skin, but in the case of the girl I know (whose name will remain anonymous, for obvious reasons), it was always cutting. She'd grab a razor blade, cut her skin, and as bizarre as it may sound, she would feel better seeing the blood come out from her self-inflicted wound. I remember one time several years ago, it was the night before Thanksgiving, and she and I were arguing over the phone. She was screaming and crying, and she told me that she was looking for a razor. I knew about her cutting, so I said anything I could to get her to not cut herself. I couldn't physically stop her because I was three hours away. I sat there and listened as she cut herself with me on the phone. The next day, I picked her up so we could have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents. She was wearing a long-sleeve shirt, but on the way there, she rolled up her sleeves and showed me her new cuts. I was horrified and disgusted.
This was a little over five years ago, and since then, I've been hearing more and more about cutting. I thought it was just this girl I know who had this problem, but it's actually a lot more common than you'd probably like to know. A year or two ago, there was a TV-Movie that aired that was supposedly gonna bring this disorder to the mainstream and raise awareness. It was called "Secret Cutting." Maybe it raised awareness, I have no idea, but what I CAN tell you is that it sucked. Not only was it a bad TV-Movie, but it seemed to exploit the issue rather than really do anything constructive. Also, it tried to answer the question of why some people do it, and it gave a shitty answer. I bring all this up because one of the main characters in "Secretary" is a cutter. What she does is a lot worse than what my friend did (or does), though I'm not trying to imply that cutters don't do what the character does. I'm only saying that the girl I know never went to that extreme. However, the important thing is that an explanation is given in this movie as to why some people cut themselves, and the reason given is 100% like the reason given to me by my friend. It may not make much sense, and it certainly doesn't seem rational, but I can tell you that the girl I know gave me the same answer. I know it's weird that I would mention all this in a movie review, but I just wanted to say that I'm really happy that there's a movie out there that actually treats this strange and horrible disorder seriously.
"Secretary" is an odd movie. The previews would have you believe that it's a comedy, and though it DOES have some quirky and amusing moments, it's certainly not a comedy. In fact, it's very sad. Still, as sad as it is, it's also pretty uplifting. It's not the feel-good movie of the year, the subject matter prevents that, but it reminds the audience that no matter how weird you are, no matter how lonely you are, and no matter how different you think you are from the rest of the world, there's someone out there for you. And that's pretty cool.
The two main characters in the movie are played by James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal. There's an age difference of probably about 20 years, but it's still believable, and the chemistry is there. James Spader seems to enjoy playing roles where his character is some sorta deviant, just look at "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" and "Crash." I remember him best from his VERY 80s movies, such as "Pretty in Pink," "Mannequin," "Less Than Zero," and of course, "Tuff Turf," which he starred in. As for Maggie Gyllenhaal, she's pretty new. She's the sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and she played his sister in the great movie, "Donnie Darko." She's very pretty, but it's a weird kinda pretty. Definitely not "Hollywood" pretty, ya know? Anyway, both James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal are very good, but she definitely stands out. She's really great.
"Secretary" was directed by Steven Shainberg (prior to this film, Shainberg directed two small films, "The Prom" and "Hit Me," neither of which I've seen), and I commend him for making such a daring film. This one musta been a pretty hard sell. He did a good job with this movie, though it's a little slow at times. This movie was based on a short story by Mary Gaitskill (I never heard of her, but I'd really like to read the short story), and the story adaptation was written by the director (Shainberg, his debut as writer) and Erin Cressida Wilson (her debut, as well). The screenplay was written by Erin Cressida Wilson. Good script, but there's something that bugs me. In the opening credits, it says "A Film by Steven Shainberg." I hate that. The only time the "A Film by" credit should be used is if it's a truly original work from the director, like a movie written and directed by him/her. Actually, even then, I think it's iffy, because "A Film by" suggests sole authorship, and film is a very collaborative medium. In this instance, however, the director was only one of several writers. In fact, the basis of the story, the foundation from which this movie was built, was written by someone else, Mary Gaitskill. UGH!!! Egocentric indie directors, I tellya. Seriously, I think it's very selfish and unfair when a director uses the "A Film by" credit, especially if he/she wasn't the sole creator.
Anyway...
Yeah, I like this movie. It's not your typical love story, but that's what I like most about it. If you walk in expecting a sweet romantic comedy, you're in for a surprise. But whether the surprise is a good one or a bad one, well, that depends on you. If you have a little freak in you, I'm sure you'll like it.
Scale of 1-10: 8