The Business of Strangers is an intimate film starring Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles. It's the sort of film that I usually love: a small cast, lots of character development, some twists and turns and the whole time, a sense that we, the audience, don't know completely what's going on, and need to pay attention throughout to follow the action.

The majority of the action happens in an airport hotel. This gives the film a great feeling of claustrophobia, tightness and ubiquity. Julie Styron, Stockard Channing, is travelling for work, Paula Murphy, Julia Stiles, is helping her with the presentation. Julie believes she is about to be sacked but instead she is made CEO of the company. The rest of the film follows Julie, Paula and Nick, Fred Weller, over the course of the evening of celebrations.

The setup is mostly irrelevant: the point is to get these three people together and watch their interactions. Yes, it's emphasised that Julie is a career woman and it's important to establish some sort of relationship between these people but really we're just watching three people negotiate with one another via carefully manipulated power plays. Who is manipulating whom? who is telling the truth? who are the baddies and who are the goodies?

All the performances in this film are great: Stockard Channing is a bit of a favourite of mine and she doesn't disappoint here. She gets the tone of her character just right, as well as looking like a real person, of the right age, who has given her life to the company. Instead of the usual 30 year olds playing amazingly successful career women (Denise Richards in The World is not Enough, Nicole Kidman in The Peacemaker) and 30 year olds playing teenagers (Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Grease), we get actors who fit their parts completely: Stockard Channing, 58, as a Vice President/CEO, Julia Stiles, 21, as a woman a few years out of college and Fred Weller fits the bill as someone a few years out of graduate school.

Having said all that, there are some problems with this film. The interactions between Julia and Nick seem believable as two people who have meet once or twice before but are still a bit awkward with each other, still figuring each other out. Julia and Paula, however, seem to bond and confide a bit too quickly for my liking. After a few scenes, they become more wary of each other which seemed strange after their earlier, more intimate scenes. This initial misstep does get forgotten, however, as their interesting relationship develops.

The biggest problem with this film is that it doesn't really stand up to reflection. (warning:general spoiler follows) As the film played, I was fascinated by these people and keen to figure out what was happening between them. It's only 84 minutes long and, as such, fast paced and well edited. As I left the cinema, however, with the benefit of the complete story before me, these people seemed less interesting, less believable, less understandable. I felt manipulated by the director and not in a good way. It's no amazing revelation that actors can act (ok, it's amazing for some actors) and in hindsight, that's all The Business of Strangers seems to be saying. Characters that seemed to be complicated and intriguing turned out to be just pretending.

Perhaps that's being a bit too harsh. There is a chance there was another message in The Business of Strangers: that women are as nasty as men. Patrick Stettner resents comparisons between his film and Neil LaBute's The Company of Men. I can understand his resentment because it must hurt to think that you have an original idea and then discover that your film is a complete rip-off of a previous one. Yes, the leads are women rather than men but ultimately The Business of Strangers covers much the same ground, perhaps with an added tinge of nastiness. It turns out women are bitches, or more accurately manipulative bitches, and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, which are at best silly but more likely pointless.

An interesting question is why I liked In The Company of Men so much more than this film. There's always going to be points for being first with an idea and there's a chance that I like films that show men, rather than women, being nasty. There's more to it than that, however. First, In the Company of Men takes place over a longer period of time with people who know one another so the development of these complicated interrelations makes more sense. Second, In the Company of Men seems to be making a less damning point. Yes, the lead character was awful and treated people terribly but (another spoiler warning) The Business of Strangers concludes with an incredibly misogynistic, stereotypical point. Perhaps it really does just come down to In the Company of Men was a film about nasty men made by a man whereas The Business of Strangers was a film about nasty women made by a man: maybe it's a simple as I can insult my family but you can't.

Ultimately, The Business of Strangers is a beautifully wrapped package. It has great performances, and a wonderful look and feel as it unfolds. It leaves, however, a very nasty taste in the mouth and a sense of missed opportunities. As for an overall grade, I'd like to give it an HD as it unfolded and a CP after the movie was over. I guess I'll compromise with a CR.

Rating: CR