|
Corporate climber Julie Styron fires her new assistant
Paula Murphy after she arrives late with materials for a crucial
presentation. When the two women meet by chance in a hotel
bar that evening, Julie attempts reconciliation. But she has
no idea what she is letting herself in for...
Total
Film called this "a tight psychodrama that really crackles".
Rolling Stone described it as "a maliciously funny
and keenly observant movie". The Times referred to
it as "clever to the point of devious". Were they watching
the same film as me, I wonder? Sure, The Business of Strangers
boasts very good performances by the two leads, Stockard (The
West Wing) Channing and Julia (The Bourne Identity)
Stiles, but I think those reviewers were going a little bit
over the top.
Channing's
Julie is a real bitch to begin with, but she earns our sympathies
when she later makes every effort to make amends for her rash
dismissal of Paula. Stiles is suitably enigmatic as Paula,
managing, as you might expect from the star of 10 Things
I Hate About You, to combine a badass attitude with the
possibility that she might just be a naive girl out of her
depth.
Writer/director
Patrick Stettner succeeded in defying my expectations. What
seems at first (and in the movie's trailer, which appears
on the disc) to be your average "embittered psycho seeks revenge"
storyline ends up being something rather different - a more
subtle battle of wills between Paula and Julie. For a while,
the two women actually seem to get on well, and there is even
a little sexual tension between them. However, although many
of the dialogue exchanges are powerfully portrayed, some others
don't sound at all natural.
The
ending is a bit of a damp squib - perhaps deliberately so,
as it is left to we, the audience, to judge for ourselves
how we should feel about the way things turn out. However,
the film has left me with some enduring and stirring images,
which can be no bad thing.
Chris
Clarkson
|
