Love it or hate it, people are going to flock to see the Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan-starring adaptation of “Fifty Shades of Grey” come Valentine’s Day. The E.L. James bestseller has practically taken on a life of its own – colossally outsized though it may be – and in turn, has prompted an innumerable amount of think pieces and more. The marketing campaign has made it look like a souped-up lingerie ad that’s so sticky and sleazy you can practically wipe the translucent film off your computer screen. It certainly won’t be to every taste, but that won’t stop throes of people from showing up to buy a ticket for Sam-Taylor Johnson’s film once it opens on February 13th.
There’s probably a smaller percentage of people out there who remember 2002’s “Secretary,” another film about submissive sex that involved a man named Mr. Grey. That would be James Spader’s Edward Grey, a droll attorney who makes a sex slave out of his bright-eyed, bushy-tailed new employee, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, in her bravest and most committed performance. That film also examined abusive relationships in the workplace, but its execution was fucked-up, hilarious and strangely compassionate. We suspect there’s less of that acerbic self-awareness on display in “Fifty Shades of Grey” (we’d love to be proved wrong), but in case you ever wondered what “Fifty Shades of a Secretary” would look like, here is a new trailer for Steven Shainberg’s comedy that incorporates some of the vibe of the ‘Fifty Shades’ trailer. It’s an interesting bit of juxtaposition, if only to see how each film examines the subject of BDSM in its own particular way.
“Secretary” is has been re-released this week on VOD and Digital HD. Watch below.
