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The Business of Strangers

Play trailer Poster for The Business of Strangers R 2001 1h 24m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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81% Tomatometer 95 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Julie Styron (Stockard Channing) thinks she is going to be fired, but instead discovers that she is being promoted. Trapped in an airport hotel, she wants to celebrate but finds only the company of her young assistant, Paula Murphy (Julia Stiles). As the night progresses, the two women get to know each other. They flirt, they drink, they lie; personal flaws are revealed and exposed. But at the end of the night their relationship turns and becomes a complex battle of power, authority, and wit.
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The Business of Strangers

The Business of Strangers

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Critics Consensus

The Business of Strangers showcases a complex, compelling performance by Channing. Her interactions and clashes with Stiles make for riveting viewing.

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Critics Reviews

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Sara Michelle Fetters MovieFreak.com 06/19/2003
3.5/4
In that millisecond glower is all the fear, frustration, pent-up emotion, aggression and pure unadulterated self-loathing imaginable and it says volumes about where Strangers is heading. Go to Full Review Neil Smith BBC.com 04/15/2002
4/5
The inspired pairing of Channing and Stiles creates real dramatic fireworks. Go to Full Review Geoff Pevere Toronto Star 01/18/2002
May be a hermetically sealed experience, but it is also a brilliantly integrated one. Go to Full Review Matthew Breen Out Magazine 05/25/2022
[The Business of Strangers] is best when the women join forces to take down a smarmy headhunter, make lewd lesbian sex jokes, and talk in the kind of theatrically intense dialogue rarely found in films these days. Go to Full Review B. Ruby Rich The Nation 02/25/2020
A tense chamber-piece. Go to Full Review MaryAnn Johanson Flick Filosopher 11/19/2008
[A]n uncomfortably suspenseful tale - [cast] with two immensely capable and powerful actresses - of a game of power and control played between two women in a realm film only too rarely lets women roam in: the political swamp of the corporate world. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D @RT35616104 09/25/2023 Doesn't amount to much especially with its wrongheaded ending. See more don s @RT97868663 12/30/2016 Two strangers who work for the same company, one as the CEO and the other as what would now be an IT person (but then was an AV technician), meet in a bar after the AV woman blows a deal for the CEO by arriving 45 minutes late. They decide to hang out together for no good reason and cause havoc in the life of a headhunter the CEO appears to know more than casually. This drama is boring. Color by numbers stuff in TV movie production living color. Nothing new or interesting presented. See more 07/13/2013 Stiles and Channing were good in this and they were also the best part of this movie. See more 05/24/2013 The Business of Strangers is about the world of those women jockeying their lives in the phallocentric spheres of our society. It's a great movie done with very little. The good. Simple yet very elegant mood and settings. Solid editing. Interesting, realistic, and straight forward story. Nicely put together characters who evolve before our eyes. The actors. In this production, we can see Julia Stiles starting to spread her wings and some of her potential. However, as much as I love her, Stockard Channing is the real star here. She portrays the power business woman, her struggle and her changes of mood, with incredible clarity. The bad. The emptiness of ordinary lives usually filled with glitz and details by Hollywood can be slightly disorienting here. I think it's perfect, but not for everyone. The ugly. Nothing. The result. Very low key character driven film. Don't expect a dazzling display, turn on your brain, and you won't be disappointed. See more 11/27/2012 middle to the end it perks up a bit See more 04/25/2012 Nothing is what it seems, not even in this movie which tries to be interesting..but fails. See more Read all reviews
The Business of Strangers

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Cast & Crew

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Patrick Stettner

Director

Stockard Channing

Julie Styron

Julia Stiles

Paula Murphy

Frederick Weller

Nick Harris

Mary Testa

Receptionist

Jack Hallett

Mr. Fostwick

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The Business of Strangers

The Business of Strangers (2001) Julia Stiles stars as Paula Murphy in Patrick Stettner's THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS. Director Patrick Stettner on the set of THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Julie Styron (Stockard Channing) thinks she is going to be fired, but instead discovers that she is being promoted. Trapped in an airport hotel, she wants to celebrate but finds only the company of her young assistant, Paula Murphy (Julia Stiles). As the night progresses, the two women get to know each other. They flirt, they drink, they lie; personal flaws are revealed and exposed. But at the end of the night their relationship turns and becomes a complex battle of power, authority, and wit.
Director
Patrick Stettner
Producer
Susan A. Stover, Robert H. Nathan
Screenwriter
Patrick Stettner
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
i5 Films
Rating
R (Strong Language|Some Sexuality)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 7, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 19, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.0M
Runtime
1h 24m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)