Secretary

Secretary (2002)

Directed by Steven Shainberg

Story by  Steven Shainberg and Erin Cressida Wilson

Screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson

Based on the short story by Mary Gaitskill

Stars: Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Spader, Jeremy Davies, Stephen McHattie and Leslie Ann Warren

I had a very long and hectic day that took me out of the house for most of the day. I had no time to watch a movie. Now, that I am rested I watched Secretary. This movie is like the prequel to that Fifty Shades of Grey movie that is sweeping the country for some reason. This movie is very disturbing love story.

Lee Holloway (Gyllenhaal) is mentally disturbed woman that is released for the looney bin when she accidentally tries to kill herself. Coming back home she feels isolated from her family. She tries to develop her secretarial skills. Lee finds a want ad about an enigmatic lawyer simply named Mr. Grey (Spader) hires her. Things around the office turn to the S&M side when Mr. Grey falls for Lee after he sees that Lee is a cutter.

The dominant/submissive relationship is an interesting topic to put in a movie. When I heard about the movie when it came out, I thought why would a woman be humiliated by her boss? Knowing that Lee is not right in the head, it kinda makes sense. She is a self-harmer and the pain from spankings replaces her need to cut herself. She trades in one addiction for another. That aspect of the film is fascinating to watch.

I'm not saying that this is a great movie. It seems like everybody is the movie have a couple of screws loose. You have Lee's alcoholic father, Burt (McHattie) becoming physical towards her mother, Joan (Warren). Joan has a weird attachment to Lee that seems stalkerish. There is also Lee's love interest, Peter (Davies) that seems not right.

My Rating

Less Than Zero

Less Than Zero (1987)

Directed by Marek Kanievska

Screenplay by Harley Peyton

Based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis

Stars: Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz, Robert Downey Jr, James Spader and Michael Bowen

I never do this, but I had a sleepless night where I woke up in the middle of night. I couldn't sleep so I decided to see Less Than Zero. I heard that the movie was mirroring RDJ's life when he was coked out of his mind. It was eerie to watch, but I was caught up in it.

This is a tale of three lifelong friends whose lives go in different directions six months after graduating from high school.The straight-laced one, Clay (McCarthy) returns to Beverly Hills by the urging of his model ex-girlfriend, Blair (Gertz). She wants him to come back to town because their friend, Julian (Downey, Jr.) is in deep trouble. Julian is in the throws of a deep cocaine addiction. He is in a five figure amount of debt from a sleazy drug dealer, Kip (Spader). The main mission is try to get Julian clean before its too late.

Being that it was middle of the night, I thought I was gonna fall asleep to this film. It's a film about rich, spoiled kids that have rich people problems. I misjudged the film. Reading more into the film, I heard the movie deviated from the book considerably. The book has a lot of characters that were melded together into the three main characters. I think this was good thing, because I think the viewer would not have cared about the characters if it was a faithful adaptation.

That was a biggest problem I had when I saw The Rules of Attraction.The characters were unlikable that I didn't care if they lived or died. Random shit happens in that movie that didn't make sense to me unless you read the 1987 novel. Less Than Zero the film was more effective that the drama focused on one character's actions effecting everyone else around them.

My Rating