THIS is probably not the film to watch if you're just about to start work as a PA in a lawyer's office - unless, as is the case here, you enjoy having your boss beat your backside black and blue every time you make a typing mistake.

Secretary will come as a shock to anyone expecting a typical Hollywood romantic comedy or a lightly educational piece about day to day life in a modern office. Nor, as those who have seen the advance publicity might be hoping, is it an out and out perv fest of bums, nipples and scary looking appliances.

What it is, in fact, is a thoughtfully executed and genuinely affecting exploration of the burgeoning relationship between two scarred individuals whose only method of communication is pain - either inflicting it or submitting to it.

Emotionally explicit, but, surprisingly, sexually rather coy, Steven Shainberg's film is actually far more romantic than most cynical Hollywood output - although with an opening scene showing a secretary performing tasks with her head and arms locked in some kind of sado-masochistic device, you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, as the self-harming homebody who finds fulfilment being punished by her new boss, gives a beautiful performance, portraying Lee's butterfly like transformation from desensitised drudge to fully alive woman - by the most unlikely route, admittedly - with depth and sensitivity.

James Spader, as the cruel boss whose bizarre punishments are a screen for his real feelings, is also excellent, his precise, whispering tones and staring eyes giving him a sinister, spider like presence.

Although it deals with real emotions, Secretary is far from being a gritty slice of life. In fact, the whole thing has a dream like quality to it.

Our two strange protagonists, who eventually defy their freakish status by becoming the only genuinely in love couple in the whole film, play out their fantasies in a strangely silent and depopulated lawyers' office, while the "hunger strike" climax - in which Gyllenhaal's character demonstrates her love for her boss by sitting in the same position at her desk, in a wedding dress, for several days - is memorably bizarre.

This is one of those films that you think horrible things about for the first half an hour but end up loving.

Initially, the bizarre storyline, oddball characters and off the wall directorial touches suggest weirdness for the sake of it.

What emerges, though, is a film of substance and insight, with two great central performances and a story that wins you over with charm and originality.

I give it: 8/10

ANDREW WHITE