Julia Stiles in The Business of Strangers (2001)

Clips

Pics

Review

Julie is a successful corporate executive who, despite her brilliance, is riddled with insecurities. She hears that her boss is flying out to meet with her personally. She assumes that must mean she is to be fired. Quite to the contrary, it means he is stepping down voluntarily, and the Board has approved her as the replacement CEO!

Paula is a 20-something executive assistant with contempt for the system. She's only working this demeaning corporate job to pay the bills until she can get a job that is worthy of her. She's an aspiring writer.

Their lives come together. Julie makes a big road show presentation, and blows the sale because Paula doesn't show up on time with her A/V support. Julie tells personnel over the phone that Paula is fired, as far as she is concerned. As luck would have it, flight delays force them to spend the night in the same airport hotel, where they engage in a battle of wills in which it is never completely clear who is manipulating whom.

This is basically a three-character play: the two women, and a male corporate headhunter who becomes a victim in their power struggle. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic loved the film. Audiences couldn't have been less interested.

Spoilers:

I thought that the script had a fatal flaw. Unlike other stories of this nature where the partners take turns manipulating each other, each gaining, then losing, then regaining turf, this script never lets the older woman have enough moments of control. It is completely obvious from their meeting in the hotel bar that, despite the contrary expectations based upon their stations in life, the young woman is doing all the manipulating and the older woman is her pawn. Because this is so completely evident, the script's last minute "surprises" aren't surprising at all, but merely confirmations of what we already suspect. Because of that, the film isn't nearly as interesting as the critics would have you believe, despite a bravura performance from Stockard Channing and some direction that does a good job of making the film feel "bigger" than what it really is, namely a three character play.

The box office receipts, virtually non-existent despite critical raves, show that it is not a mainstream film. It is quite good in many respects, featuring a top-notch performance from Stockard Channing, and a script with some intelligence and some tantalizing ambiguities. This film is a C+.

Nudity Report: Julia Stiles is seen in a black bra.

Critics Vote: Ebert 3/4; Berardinelli 3/4.

IMDb Summary: IMDb voters score it 6.7/10.

Box Office: With their dollars: it tanked. Armed with some of the best reviews of the year, it proved totally unmarketable. It took in a million dollars over 19 weeks of Arthouse distribution, never reaching as many as 70 screens, culminating with a sad final week of $238.

DVD Info: Widescreen anamorphic format, 1.85:15


Written by Scoopy…courtesy of Scoopy.net