I saw this film over the weekend, at a theatre that is usually reputed for showing intelligent, non-Hollywood type films. We had previously heard nothing about any of the films being shown at this particular theatre this past weekend, and decided since they usually show such good films, we couldn't lose with any one of them, so we went with The Business of Strangers.

As the starring actors names rolled, and I saw "Stockard Channing", I thought for sure I was in for a good film. Unfortunately this was not to be the case.

The movie starts with Julie Styron (Stockard Channing), who is a 40-something, high-powered businesswoman. She travels often, giving presentations across the country on behalf of her firm. During one of the presentations, we see her apologize to the Board due to the fact that the tech person her company assigned to assist her has not yet arrived. Stockard does her best to do the presentation without the use of electronic slides, etc. Just as she's wrapping-up, in walks Paula Murphy (Julia Stiles), a 20-something young woman, who is apparently the errant techie. Julie, being the diplomatic businessperson that she is, does not yell at her, but simply says "ah, here's my tech assistant.... perhaps now we can try and run the presentation now." But the Board says that they don't have any more time, and with that, Julie puts on a smile and thanks them for their time, and all the while Paula just stands there.

Julie then heads out to the car and driver awaiting her, and before getting in, and with Paula behind her, calls her assistant and relays what happened at the meeting. She then says that as far as she's concerned, Paula is fired, since she didn't even have the courtesy to give her a heads-up that she was running late. With that, Julie gets into the car, slams the door, and they drive off, leaving Paula standing alone in the middle of an impersonal, suburban corporate office complex. However, Paula doesn't seem upset at all. Rather, she looks indignant, as if she did nothing wrong, and as if the business woman had alot of nerve! Perhaps Julie WAS a bit mean to her, but this just helps to further create her character's personality. We are made to feel that Julie is all business, and tough.

Shortly thereafter, Julie is told by her assistant that their CEO wants to meet with her. Julie, assuming that it can only be because she is about to be fired, panics, and decides to call a young headhunter she has used in the past, played by Frederick Weller. She asks him to fly out and meet with her, which he does. They talk about some opportunities he's aware of, and she says she'll have to ponder everything. During her meeting with the CEO, Julie is surprised to learn that the CEO has decided to move on to other things, and would like to offer her the position of CEO! With a bit of hesitation, she accepts, even though the notion of it is a bit scary and sudden.

Later that night, Julie runs into Paula at the hotel, whose flight home has been cancelled. Julie apologizes for being a bit rough on her, and offers to buy her a drink. When Julie asks if she's also staying at the hotel, Paula explains that she's just hanging out for a while, and that she'll just sleep at the airport somewhere until the next flight leaves. Julie tells her that's ridiculous, and when Paula adds that she has no credit card, Julie offers to put it on her credit card.

We then see the two of them walking through one of the hotel corriders, as Julie shows Paula to her room. They decide to go down to the pool together, and on the way down in the elevator, Paula begins to pretend that they are lesbian lovers, and makes a reference to a strap-on. Julie plays along, and since there were other people in the elevator, I guess we're supposed to find this funny... that they were trying to make others in the elevator feel uncomfortable. I found this highly implausible, not only that a newly-promoted CEO would socialize with an underling she just met, but that she would go along with this kind of joke inside a "business" hotel, where she could potentially run into business acquaintances.

Later, they decide to go down to the hotel bar to celebrate Julie's promotion. While there, the headhunter Julie had previously met with shows up, and Julie invites him to join them. At one point he goes to the bathroom or something, and Paula mentions that she knows him from somewhere, but does not elaborate. Paula says that she just wants to go back to her room, so the two of them leave, without waiting for the headhunter to return. Later, in Julie's room, Paula asks if Julie ever watches porn films, and suggests maybe they watch one, all said in a "suggestive" tone. Presumably Paula is just trying to make Julie feel uncomfortable, by playing headgames?

Julie asks Paula to elaborate on how she knows the headhunter, and Paula "finally" divulges that he raped a friend of hers a few years ago, when they were all at a frat party in Boston. Julie becomes very angry, and starts saying things like "something must be done...... they can't get away with stuff like this...", while Paula is now trying to act like the rape should just be forgotten about. It's very obvious that Paula was simply trying to elicit this very response from Julie, but yet how she could be so sure that Paula would all of a sudden be thinking like a vengeful Rambo is beyond me!

Moments later, who should knock on the room door but the headhunter. With a smug face, he asks why they left the bar... They invite him in, and again, Paula starts playing games, asking if he's into "partying", and then starts flicking through the TV stations, stopping at a porn station. They make some more drinks, and Paula puts valium in his. Eventually, he becomes unconscious, and Julie, nervous, agrees that they should dump him in another part of their hotel floor, where construction is conveniently being done. I guess they figure when we wakes up, he'll just assume he got really drunk and lost his way.

Once they get to the construction area, Paula decides to strip him and leave her panties. She thinks that if he wakes up, maybe he'll wonder if he raped someone, which is what he "deserves". (By this point in the film, I wanted to leave, but my friend did not.) I didn't pay much more attention, but basically they write stuff all over his body, like "RAPIST", etc. How novel, huh? Then Paula pulls out a pocket knife, cuts her finger a bit, and spreads the blood on him. Julie eventually gets worked into such a frenzy, that she lies on top of the guy's back, and pulls his head back and tries to smother him to death. I think she eventually believes he's dead. It is then revealed to Julie that he did not rape Paula's FRIEND, but Paula herself!! So "the friend" was non-existent! So THAT explains why Paula is such a cold, heartless person - she was raped! (yawn) At one point a security guard starts to walk through the construction area, and they hide. While they are hiding, Paula says something to Julie about how she should kiss her.... that would she rather kiss her or get caught? The camera zooms in on their faces, as Julie seems to contemplate kissing Paula. Will she or won't she??!!! Ooohh, the tension is mounting! (They DON'T kiss.)

Cut to the next morning. Julie and Paula had crashed out in Julie's room, and Paula begins to get dressed, collect her things, but not before pilfering a wad of cash from Julie's bag. Julie is now starting to awake, and sees Paula taking the money, but pretends she's still asleep.

Later that day, Julie is at the airport, presumably to catch a flight back home, when who appears but the headhunter. Of course she acts normal, and he tells her he fell asleep the night before at the bar. Julie nonchalantly asks him if he's ever been to Boston. He says he was there a few months ago. She says "have you ever been there before though?" He said "No". "Are you sure?" she asks. "Yeah.... why?" he said. "No reason.... just curious. I thought you might know someone I know from Boston, but I'm guessing they've never even been to Boston themselves." As they wait for the call to board their planes, Julie sees Paula way across the room, sitting alone among rows of empty chairs, like your stereotypical bitter, disenfranchised youth, listening to headphones. I guess we're supposed to now realize that Paula is just a disturbed person who has a general hate for men, perhaps because she was raped by SOMEONE, and that she goes around making up stories, in order to get people to do her dirty work for her.

I found this story completely implausible. A CEO would never act the way Julie did, and certainly not in tandem with a young office assistant. And how many movies have we already seen of women banding together to avenge a rape (Girls Town, Thelma & Louise....)? It was a very lame film indeed.

Recommended:
No

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age