| THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS |
 2001 – USA
Director: Patrick Stettner - Reviewed by Linda
As torturous (and sometimes embarrassing) as the activities are, these events would usually give you a new insight into your superiors' weaknesses. I remember thinking I had somewhat bonded with a much-higher-up woman after she had basically ended up clutching me through a trust exercise we had been forced to do. But once we were back in our office environment, she reverted to looking directly through my head in the hallways, despite my hellos. After all, I was just a lowly worker. But I remember thinking bitterly, "You know, woman, I know where you're weak... I could take you down in a second." The Business of Strangers is off-site corporate bonding gone completely awry. Julie Styron (Stockard Channing) is a middle-aged corporate powerhouse. We meet her in the sterile surroudings of a business trip: a generic airport, a taxi cab, a fluorescent-lit meeting room. Her young assistant Paula (Julia Stiles) shows up late for an important presentation, so Julie promptly fires her... but not much later they are both less-than-thrilled to find out that they are stuck in the same airport hotel overnight. Thus begins what is basically a claustrophobic character study of two women of very different generations. With claws coming out and retracting over and over through one long night, we see Julie and Paula bonding, prying, accusing, flirting, challenging, and testing each other, each trying to gain the upper hand in a psychological power play. Throw into the mix an oily headhunter named Nick (Fred Weller) that they both may or may not be acquainted with, and you have the female response to the scathing In the Company of Men. The Business of Strangers could have suffered from its very sterile and unchanging setting, but it shines with riveting performances by leads, especially the fabulous Stockard Channing, who has her best role in years. First time writer/director Patrick Stettner's screenplay is sharp and cutting, with conversations and one-liners as wince-inducing as the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. Though Business suffers slightly from its final third (which in my mind wasn't necessary to keep the film interesting), it still is a fine acting showcase, giving us (for once!) well-written female characters. That is a treat that comes along so rarely in modern male-dominated movies, that that alone makes The Business of Strangers worth seeking out. |
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I
remember at this one corporate job I had, our whole department had to spend a
day off-site for a "team-building event." For those of you not
familiar with this relatively new corporate concept, you are thrown with your
co-workers and bosses into a non-work-related situation where you have to depend
on each other's skills (both physical and mental) in order to solve problems
presented to you by a perky guide hired specifically for this day.
