Avis des critiques

Steven Shainberg's directorial debut "Secretary" belongs to the same genre as, say, "The Wedding Planner" or "Maid in Manhattan", but it is a far darker, kinkier affair than your average rom com.

Tasteful it ain't. But bafflingly enough, this is a plausible and engaging love story, terrifically performed by Spader and Gyllenhaal. Love is a sickness, they say, and in its own sick way, this has fervour and warped, erotic rapture. And it's very funny.

Profound, witty and insightful... are probably three of the things "Secretary" wants to be. Unfortunately, with its slight, overstretched story, and facile moral (find 'love' on your own terms), this Sundance Festival winner disappoints.

"Secretary" approaches the tricky subject of sadomasochism with a stealthy tread, avoiding the dangers of making it either too offensive, or too funny... Here is a film where we giggle at the right times. The director, Steven Shainberg, has succeeded by focusing intently on his characters, making them quirky individuals rather than figures of fun.

For a film dealing with living metaphors, Secretary seems curiously averse to subtext. Regardless, there's something appealing about an unapologetic love story set in an office that's only a few clicks off from looking like a fetish dungeon, and Spader and Gyllenhaal make sure that the romance, kinks and all, carries the day.

Remarkably, the film is less an S&M wallow than a love story between two consenting adults with complimentary sexual psychoses. Spader and Gyllenhaal are electric, bringing Secretary all the power and compassion it needs.

The real secret of Secretary’s sweetness is that its sadist is a bigger basket case than its masochist.

The writing is pointed and affectless, the authorial perspective at once drily emphatic and sourly disenchanted. ''Secretary,'' which is set in suburbia, by contrast, feels cheery, and that's one of its subversive charms.

Whether or not you understand or respond to these characters' specific kinks is beside the point. "Secretary" isn't ultimately about spanking, submissiveness, humiliation, domination or shame -- it's too funny and delicate to be summed up so conveniently or judgmentally. 

Spader’s Edward has elements of some of the thesp’s other weirdo roles, and for most of the time the character is meant to be unreachable and unfathomable, but the precision and controlled intensity with which the actor puts over the key breakthrough scenes is crucial to maintaining the film’s conviction. Supporting perfs are one-dimensionally serviceable, and behind-the-scenes contributions are solid.

Both Gyllenhaal and Spader... are on top form, with Gyllenhaal particularly effective... 'Secretary' is a quirky and unexpectedly heartwarming treat.