Quotes of the Day

A couple of typing errors, and the next thing she (Maggie Gyllenhaal) knows, she's bent across the boss's desk, awaiting punishment. He (James Spader) is a sadist who sometimes lacks the courage of his convictions. But that's all right with his employee. She has enough affection for pain and humiliation for both of them. It may not be quite so all right with viewers, though. Writer-director Shainberg seems to be aiming for a dark comedy, but mostly his movie is coy without being funny, ugly without being truly transgressive, stupid when it needs to be smart.

• RICHARD SCHICKEL