gridoon2024 Review of The Business of Strangers

The Business of Strangers (2001)

Very well made, but the ending leaves something to be desired

[6/10 · 17 November 2014]

"The Business Of Strangers" is a quiet - and quietly intense - two-and-a-half-character psychological drama, unusually dialogue-heavy and visually elegant for a 2000s film. I was surprised to find out, through IMDb, that writer-director Patrick Stettner has only made one more film since, as he shows both talent and ambition here. This is a movie that commands your attention not with action but with words, looks, gestures. And it also features two performances by Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles that probably rank among the highest accomplishments of their careers. However, the ending is underwhelming, as it arrives at a plot revelation that most viewers will have already suspected. **1/2 out of 4.