Avis Metacritic

Intriguingly puts two distinct, strong women together as if to pose the question, just what is a strong woman? By the film's end, that question is tough to answer.

Mr. Stettner has a serious subject here -- how the hurts that women suffer at the hands of men can be internalized more deeply than the victims know -- and his film is graced with a stunning performance by Ms. Channing.

Looking back at the film, I don't buy all this, but no matter; Channing is so stormy, so keen to unleash her resentments, that for an hour or so you do believe in Julie. [17 Dec 2001, p.98]

Incorporates a range of genres -- black comedy, thriller, psychological drama -- and emerges more powerful for it.

Stettner approaches this material with a playwright's incisiveness and structural sense. His dialogue is cutting, often surprising.

This is a movie that really has little to offer but performances and ideas. For a while, that's enough.

Isn't much more than ''Baise-Moi'' in business suits as they deconstruct sisterhood with an expense account, but their duets sizzle.

Even though The Business of Strangers loses its nerve in the third act -- you'll wish Stettner had dared to push things further.

The Business of Strangers goes too far in dramatizing Julie's primal, Paula-fied surge of female fury, and the script finally mistakes respectful ambiguity for vaporous drift.

Stettner's vision of both women lacks fullness, relying on stereotypes of feminine strength and vulnerability.