Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Sabah Hensley This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

rjennica Stockard Channing and Julia Styles deserve Oscars for this would-be psycho thriller which, as others stated, just built you up, just to let you down. It could have been more mind bending if the surprise element of Julia's true character revealed, had been more thoroughly explored rather than teasing us for so long, with no shock value at the end. Doesn't have to be blood and gore, but certainly some kind of "consequence" for the malicious actions of both women against an "innocent" man besides leaving us with the proverbial thought, 'Oh, maybe I really don't want this job...I should get a life.' Still, for all the potential 'could've beens', I enjoyed the movie.

banbb "The Business of Strangers" answers the, "What if a cruel psychopath was plopped into a group of normal persons", question. In this movie, the psychopath is Julia Stiles, and the normal group consists of only two individuals, Stockard Channing and Fred Weller. From the outset I found every bit of the movie credible. Stockard Channing is an anxious, stressed, and cynical professional who knows utter randomness is a fact of life. She does her job as well as she can, but realizes that most of her working future is way beyond her control. Fred Weller is an unnecessary acquaintance who happens to be there when the Julia Stiles character lands in their midst.Now, I must confess that being a male reviewing a work involving predominantly females may not seem proper because I am sure I missed many nuances, both verbal and nonverbal, that women would note and understand, however, that said, from my point of view, I could understand the power struggles and spur of the moment decisions that Channing was forced to confront. Maybe it is only in my imagination that women have the same conflicts and tensions as men, but the way this story was presented I am sure gender was not a determining factor motivating the actions of either the Channing or Stiles character. Those motivations being a struggle for conquest, self-preservation, and sanity.To be quite frank, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I thought the acting, tone, and plot were all far above average and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good hour and a half of sophisticated and intense escapism.

SnoopyStyle Julie Styron (Stockard Channing) suspects she may be getting fired and hires headhunter Nick Harris (Fred Weller). She fires new assistant Paula Murphy (Julia Stiles). She is surprised when she is promoted to CEO. They later run into each other at a bar. They are joined by Nick when Paula reveals a shocking story to Julie.You should be able to see the ending coming a mile away. You know exactly the big reveal as soon as the "story" unfolds. It could've been interesting if something REAL edgy happens, but they might as well have a sing-along for the climax. Stockard Channing plays a smart, hard-nose executive, but couldn't ask the right questions to the guy? She's smart enough to run a multi-million dollar company, but so stupid she buys into the story. It's too bad. It has a good premise.

Boyo-2 If this is supposed to be a turn on the usual men-exploiting-women movie, then congrats to all concerned, its great to know that the playing field is now equal.It started off great, it really did. The cinematography is remarkable and I am assuming there was not a gigantic budget, but you'd never know it by what is onscreen - the 'look' of the movie is also terrific. It has a certain feel to it - I give it that much credit gladly.But then you get to the characters and the screenplay and the actual words that are said and it all goes into the garbage can very fast. I didn't buy either womans' motivation for anything. Is the woman Julia Stiles plays a psychopath, a liar, a spoiled brat or just bored? Is the woman Stockard Channing plays an idiot, a moron or just bored? For Stiles to accuse Frederick Weller of rape/sexual abuse just for the fun of it is an insult to women and men worldwide who have actually suffered such abuse. I like Weller and watched this originally to see him. I watched it again to make sure I hated it as much as I did the first time, and I did. 3/10 and that's generous on my part.