Oscuros negocios

This could have been a very interesting film. Stockard Channing turns in her usual phenomenal performance, but even her formidable skills can't save this one. It begins as a fascinating character study of a woman at the top (Channing) with very little to show for it, and had it remained Channing's story, it might have worked. However, the very forced introduction of a vaguely threatening younger woman takes the script into an plot filled with implausible choices and sometimes laughable dialogue - at the very moments when it should be most dramatic. This film could have seethed with undercurrents and subtle sexual tension. Instead, we're hit over the head repeatedly with "tension" so overt it renders any chemistry between the two actresses absolutely lifeless. Too bad - this film could've had a good thing going.

In "The Business of Strangers", Stockard Channing plays Julie Styron, a self-made business woman approaching middle age who is paired up with young tech assistant Paula Murphy (played by Julia Stiles) on a business trip. When Paula arrives late to a meeting due to a delayed flight, a distressed Julie has her fired on the spot. Later, after being promoted CEO of the company, Julie runs into Paula sitting alone in a bar, apologizes for her rash behavior and the two set out on a night of female bonding, power trips, revenge, mind games, and button pushing.

This verbal film spends a considerable time exploring the stark contrasts between the two women. Paula is a hostile young woman who writes non-fiction about her life experiences, sports tattoos, experiments with bisexuality and self-mutilation, and has a fondness for hardcore pornography. Julie is career-driven to the point of isolation and is much softer and less confrontational than Paula. It is exactly through these contrasts that we see a complementary relationship emerge between these two characters. While Paula's brash confidence exposes Julie's insecurity and anxiety, Julie's worldliness and experience make Paula seem impetuous. As a result, a dynamic interplay and synergy come out from these exchanges.

When a male associate of Julie's enters the plot, Paula ups the ante by revealing to Julie that he committed a rape at a frat party she attended in Boston years ago. From this point on, "The Business of Strangers" turns into a story of revenge and maintains a misanthropic and satirical tone. It is this tone that makes "The Business of Strangers" so much like Neil Labute's indie hit, "In the Company of Men", in the way that it explores power trips, mind games, one-upmanship, and competition. In this film, a woman's struggle within a male-dominated corporate world is also an theme that is covered.

"The Business of Strangers" is not exactly an impressive film stylistically, but it more than makes up for this in its delicious dialogue which works two ways. It always keep the suspense going by teasing and daring the audience to guess what will happen next, only to foil any attempt to do so. Another thing the dialogue does is establish the characters' personalities by shedding light on their life histories and motives. Channing and Stiles fill both their roles to perfection and play off each other extremely well. Channing is up to task with her most interesting role since "Six Degrees of Separation" nearly ten years ago. Every look and gesture serves to imply the world-weariness and jaded vulnerability that Julie inhabits. Stiles, is no less impressive as the more provocative of the two women. Apart from seeing a few random scenes from "10 Things I Hate About You", I have never seen her act before, but her dynamic performance here has me intrigued. Both Channing and Stiles are deserving of Oscar nominations, but will most likely be overlooked since "The Business of Strangers" is a low budget indie film. While the 85-minute running time is slight, this movie will keep you engaged in thought as well as entertained.

What a pleasure to watch Stockard Channing in this film! The range of emotions she undergoes playing Julie, an over-the-hill, frustrated and angry woman, who perhaps has been overlooked by her employers, like so many other women with a lot of qualifications, too many times. She is totally vulnerable. She's afraid of losing her job, which she has worked probably so hard to obtain and keep. She goes from one extreme to another in a range that is very hard to imagine another could convey as eloquently as Ms. Channing.

She meets her match when Paula, her new assistant, gets into the picture. Paula is an enigmatic character who we don't know where she's coming from, yet, she exerts an incredible amount of power over her newly acquired boss. That's when the fun and games begin. Julia Stiles projects a mystery about who this assistant is, obviously a product of privilege and wealth in sharp contrast with Stockard Channing character, who we get to know, comes from very humble origin and whose ascent into the position she is now is the product of hard work. Her ambition is natural because her Julie has had to struggle and fight for whatever she has gotten from life, including her present executive position.

It's like a good tennis match watching these two actresses go at it, and at each other throughout the film, but it is Miss Channing who outshines and makes this feature so much fun to watch. The script and direction from Patrick Stettner are just right, but he is well served by his cast.

Stockard Channing has always been a terrific actress and her excellent performance comes as no surprise but Julia Stiles is also very good thanks to a thought provoking script. I've always had my suspicions about Stiles and here she shows she also has some good "Stuff". I hope she gets offered more films like this instead of the teenage fare where all that is needed is attitude. As good as Stiles is its still Channing's film. Youth cannot overcome experience, not here anyway.

Paula hates men, and has learned to use her sexual attractiveness as a weapon against them. It's made obvious the way she likes to taunt them in the elevator, the dance floor. Making out in the hallway just enough to get him turned on, then kick him away. Throwing their lame smalltalk back in their face. (At the end of the movie I asked my SO why she "did it" and the answer was "because she can." I got it right.)

Paula is a constant, but what about Julie? Together but brittle, Paula boils things to the surface of Julie that otherwise would not have come to light without sufficient heat. This movie keeps you watching, and you can't help but question whether the characters and fallen "out of character" or not. But that's the whole point.

You keep watching because you want to see where it goes. Over the edge, or reel back to safety?

Actors aside, the background is perfect, as anyone who has spent any amount of time on business trips knows.

Eight stars.