"The Business of Strangers" is a stylish piece of work, but it's a bit fraudulent. The story, to me, anyway, is completely implausible. I just didn't believe a woman with the controlled personality of a CEO could be so easily drawn in to such a dumb prank. And once I found myself disbelieving that, I didn't buy anything else that happened in the film. The film also glosses over the implications of what Julia Stiles' character does - the guy could easily have died from the drug overdose. I suppose some people will interpret the ending as Stiles' character, the cold, manipulative bitch, beating the CEO at her own game, but I didn't see that at all. She just struck me as a man-hater, a lonely, lost little girl.
This movie is also far from original. It contains too many elements from better movies I've seen before, notably "In The Company Of Men". Even the best lines of dialogue in the movie are an utter cliché, when Stiles and Stockard Channing are swapping "Ok, you told me what I am, now I'm going to tell you what you are" barbs. The performances are all great; it's just the material that's lacking. "The Business of Strangers" is not terrible, but it's weak, and it trivializes not only the plight of women in the corporate workplace, but rape victims as well.
This movie is also far from original. It contains too many elements from better movies I've seen before, notably "In The Company Of Men". Even the best lines of dialogue in the movie are an utter cliché, when Stiles and Stockard Channing are swapping "Ok, you told me what I am, now I'm going to tell you what you are" barbs. The performances are all great; it's just the material that's lacking. "The Business of Strangers" is not terrible, but it's weak, and it trivializes not only the plight of women in the corporate workplace, but rape victims as well.