FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: The Business of Strangers [DVD] [2002]

The Business of Strangers [DVD] [2002]
enlarge	Director: Patrick Stettner Actors: Stockard Channing, Julia Stiles, Fred Weller, Mary Testa, Jack Hallett Studio: Momentum Pictures Category: DVD List Price: ~~£15.99~~ Buy New: £1.00 as of 23/11/2009 20:50 GMT details You Save: £14.99 (94%) New (23) Used (4) from £0.75 Seller: media_moguls-uk Rating: 5 reviews Sales Rank: 45066 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 84 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5060021175991 ASIN: B000094PW4 Theatrical Release Date: May 3, 2002 Release Date: May 19, 2003 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Julia Styles, Stockard Channing, and their strange dance January 5, 2004 Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) 19 out of 22 found this review helpful "The Business of Strangers" is a film that is either going to hook up, in which case you will find it compelling, or it is going to leave you cold and disinterested. It is essentially a two-character drama, in which Stockard Channing plays Julie Styron, a business executive for a software company who spends most of her time on the road going her job, and Julia Stiles plays Paula Murphy, an audio-visual techie who shows up 45 minutes late for an important presentation. Julie thinks she is about to be fired when her boss flies in for a dinner meeting and Paula knows she is fired when she hears Julie do exactly that on her cell phone. But it turns out that Julie is being promoted to the top spot in the corporation and she feels magnanimous at this good fortune to spare Paula, put her up in a hotel room at company expense, and spend the night drinking with this strange young woman.pYour tendency is to think the Julie and Paula are women at the opposite ends of the same road, but that is only partially true at best. For Julie the job has become everything: she is an "uberfrau," to quote Paula, who is divorced, childless, and drinks scotch just like a man. In contrast, Paula dismisses her work as "only a money job," declaring she is really a writer, collecting observations of the human condition as she makes a buck. Despite some rough spots, the two get along together pretty well, playing a quick mind game in the elevator with some businessmen, playing around in the pool during a swim, and chatting in the sauna. But then Nick Harris (Frederick Weller) shows up. He is an executive headhunter than Julie called in when she thought she was going to need a job. He ends up stuck overnight when all the flights get cancelled and he joins the two women. Julie thinks nothing of it, but Paula is very cold because she knows Nick, and when she tells Julie what Nick did one weekend in Boston, the move veers off towards a much darker direction.pNick is just a pawn and not a player in this drama, mainly because nobody else can really fit comfortably onto the screen in any of the scenes between Julie and Paula. Clearly Paula is playing some sort of a game here, but exactly what sort, what the rules are, and what it all means is unclear. But the result is intriguing, from the time the two women start drinking double shots of the most expensive cognac at the hotel bar to the end of the film. Even if we question the actions of the characters, most specifically in terms of their motivations, the performances are compelling enough to keep us along for the ride. pOff the top of my head I cannot think of another film in which an older woman and a young woman go at it like this; the conventional Hollywood film is more likely to flip the genders rather than the ages of the two battling characters. I have to admit I was surprised to find the film was written and directed by Patrick Shettner, because that sort of undermines the idea that we are being offered insights into the psyche of the modern businesswoman. But that may explain as well as anything while the end of the film strikes such a discordant note with viewers. But you have to admit that few parts of this story take the conventional route and in the end the performances of Channing and Stiles, going after each other in ways I do not recall seeing before, is enough to justify watching the film. There are really no extras on this DVD, but that seems to make sense with "The Business of Strangers"; take this film at face value and make of it what you will. Edgy, daring, unconventional September 23, 2003 Dennis Littrell (SoCal) 4 out of 5 found this review helpful Near the beginning of this imaginative film when Paula Murphy (20-year-old Julia Stiles) and Julie Styron (Stockard Channing) meet in earnest, Paula tells Julie what she really does in life: "I'm a writer," she says. I write short stories about things that I experience. Nonfiction. "Fiction is too stupid, too neat. I like the sloppiness of real life." What we don't know at the time is that Paula is about to improvise just such a tale involving Julie, a tale that challenges the middle-aged executive's lifestyle and her assumptions about herself and inspires her to do things she wouldn't normally do.pThis is the "business of strangers." And this is the story within the story. Paula is the diabolical kind of person who is dedicated to introducing people to themselves so that she can watch them twist, a privileged, under-achieving Ivy League girl with machinations. Julie is a community college workaholic who never had time for a family, or love, or self-discovery, a lonely woman whose life is a parade of sterile hotel rooms, anonymous strangers, alcohol and pills. Although the story drags in a little in spots, the overall effect is edgy and fascinating, and the contrast between the principals keeps us wondering who is going to come out on top.pThe action really begins when Julie, in an expansive mood with some booze and her promotion to CEO, shows some interest in the girl she just fired for being late to a presentation. It's not clear what sort of interest that is. Julie responds as a spider coaxing a fly into the web, but it's not clear what she's up to. They go to the pool and play around, get on the treadmills at the gym and run. They go back to Julie's suite and drink some more.pAt this point I'm afraid that the film will deteriorate into a politically correct cliché of some kind, or a lesbian wish-fulfillment debacle, without anything really happening. Enter (or actually re-enter) Nick Harris (Fred Weller) who, Paula has confided to Julie, raped her best friend when they were undergraduates in Boston. This excites Julie's loathing and so the two women play out an improvised and drunken revenge scenario that is a bit over the top, but psychologically correct.pAfter some intense emotional interaction, the film resolves surprisingly and rather neatly, allowing us to see that Paula has indeed spun out a tale whose moral might be, "watch out for young foxes." The scene in the airport emphasizes this, with Julie and Nick sheepishly sorting out last night's bizarre debauchery while trying to maintain their dignity, with Paula poised brazenly in plain sight wearing earphones, a smug silhouette in the distance.pPatrick Stettner wrote the script, which, judging from the series of stationary settings and the limited cast, I suspect was originally a stage play. He also directed in a business-like manner, getting a saucy and smirk-laden performance from Stiles, whose originality and talent is obvious, and a steady and believable one from veteran Channing. Incidentally, Channing is a Harvard graduate who is perhaps best known for her performance as Betty Rizzo in Grease (1978) playing a teenager when she was 32-years-old! Here she braves some close camera work that starkly reveals the 57-year-old actress beneath the makeup. Yet, as always, Stockard Channing pleases us.pBut see this for Julia Stiles, a thoroughly professional player, whose arrogant, sneering, and edgy style add spice to, and partially disguise, her youthful mastery of the fine art of acting. A real little gem. April 16, 2006 David Welsh (Oslo, Norway) 2 out of 4 found this review helpful This film is a real little gem, an outstanding character-driven thriller about the relationship that develops between two women in the course of 24 hours. Stockard Channing plays Julie, a high-powered businesswoman who fires temp Paula (Julia Stiles) when her lateness ruins a presentation. When she encounters her later in the hotel, she regrets her harsh benaviour and apologises. As the two women get to know each other the dynamics of power, vulnerability and honesty fluctuate in fascinating and unpredictable ways. The cinematography is excellent, but what makes the film really stand out is the fanstasic performances of the two leads. just awesome August 20, 2008 Ms. F. I. Macdonald (uk) i popped this film into my dvd player not expecting too much, just a nice way to pass the time, but i was blown away. I loved this film. I loved the storyline, the twists, and the acting was amazing!!! So intense!! I urge you to watch this, and at not even an hour an a half it wont take up too much time!! Classic Stockard October 16, 2007 vino (uk) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful Very involved film, lots to think about, a bit slow to begin with but you really get into it after about 20 mins, worth a watch when there is nothing on tv.

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