The Business of Strangers (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio & Animation Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	80:04 (Case: 86)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Patrick Stettner
Studio Distributor	Beyond Films Int Imagine Entertainment	Starring	Stockard Channing Julia Stiles Fred Weller
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	Rental	Music	Alexander Lasarenko

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The Business of Strangers is an unusual movie. It is very theatrical, in that most of the action takes place within a few settings - primarily the bedrooms and bar of a business hotel. The film is very character-driven and it features only three main protagonists. Starring the always-convincing veteran Stockard Channing (Grease, First Wives Club, The West Wing) and the very talented relative newcomer Julia Stiles (The Bourne Identity, State and Main), this is a thought-provoking piece, that provided you are in the correct frame of mind makes for an intriguing watch.

    Julie Styron (Channing) is a high-powered Vice President in the software industry. During a business trip her new temporary assistant, Paula Murphy (Stiles), arrives forty-five minutes late for an important presentation, and is promptly fired by the very driven Julie. On her way back to the hotel, Julie receives a call to let her know that her board have called a meeting (about which she had not been notified) and that she is to meet with her boss at the hotel. Julie is convinced that she has been targeted for dismissal, and feeling hurt and betrayed, arranges for a head-hunter Nick Harris (Frederick Weller) to meet up with her, so she can take a pre-emptive strike and begin to plan her future career.

    Much to Julie's surprise and relief, her boss is not there to sack her - but to make her the new CEO of the company. Meanwhile, due to inclement weather, several flights have been delayed at the local airport - including those of Paula and Nick. This results in Paula being housed at the same hotel as Julie, and the two meet up in the hotel bar. Julie realises that she has been a bit harsh on the young Paula, and to make amends she buys her a drink. As the evening progresses the two women form a bond, sharing a workout in the gym and then some time spent flirting with the businessmen in the hotel bar.

    Later in the evening, when a little too much has been imbibed by the ladies, Nick returns to the hotel - frustrated with waiting for his flight, he hopes to pass the time with Julie in the bar. Paula is visibly disturbed by his arrival and later reveals to Julie that Nick raped her best friend whilst they were students four years earlier, but that it had not been reported to the police. When Nick reappears at Julia's bedroom door, the women decide that it is time that Nick was made to pay the price for his unpunished crime...

    There is a strong undercurrent of tension throughout the film, initially sexual and then later psychological as the two women exact their revenge on Nick. Channing and Stiles both carry their parts flawlessly whilst Weller is very well cast as the yuppie head-hunter; the three combine to produce some great ensemble acting. This is a slickly directed, well acted and well written film. Some of the individual shots are quite beautiful and overall the film has a very pleasing cinematic feel. Do not expect a lot of action in this film - which might be the case if you watch the trailer first - it is a character study first and foremost. You should have your thinking-head on to enjoy it fully. Definitely worth a rental for those slightly more cerebral film nights.

Video

    The overall video transfer of this disc is very good, as might be expected for such a recent release. There are no major defects present.

    The film is presented 16x9 enhanced at 1.85:1, which I assume to be the original theatrical aspect ratio.

    Sharpness is highly satisfactory throughout. Colours are well rendered and there is a nice contrast between the clinical environment of the airport (with occasional brilliant splashes of bright reds) and the warm opulence of the hotel. Skin tones are occasionally a little oversaturated, with a distinct orange tone. Black levels are solid with no low-level noise, and shadow detail is fine.

    There are no significant MPEG artefacts on display. Edge enhancement is present but generally mild and is not a cause for concern. Mild aliasing crops up rarely but is inconsequential. There is no noticeable telecine wobble. Film artefacts are insignificant and occur as rare specks which do not detract from the quality of the film.

    There are, sadly, no subtitles available.

    This is a single sided, single layered (DVD 5) disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The overall audio quality of this disc is satisfactory given the nature of the film.

    There is a single English audio track available which is encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0 at an economical 192 kbps.

    Dialogue was always clear and audio synch did not lapse from the straight and narrow.

    The original music is credited to Alexander Lasarenko and is very well suited to the movie. It comes and goes as required to provide a subtle support to the on-screen events and consists mainly of an ethnic xylophone beat with percussion and bass accompaniment.

    The soundstage is unsurprisingly very frontal. There is some decent separation between the front speakers, but this is certainly a stereo mix. The surround speakers (via the magic of Pro Logic) allow some leakage of the musical track but are barely noticeable.

    The subwoofer is unused for LFE effects. It may carry some bass from the musical score depending on your bass management set-up.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are virtually no extras on the disc.

Menu

    The menu is a montage of moving images from the film, played behind the faces of Channing and Stiles. The icons which appear over the various selections are darkly amusing. It allows the choice of viewing the main feature, choosing one of sixteen chapter stops or watching the trailer.

Trailer

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (and not therefore anamorphically enhanced) this trailer runs for 2:18 and features a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 kbps. It does tend to make the film look rather more dramatic and violent than it really is.

    The Region 1 version of this film is available with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and a 1.33:1 transfer on the reverse of the disc. Extras again consist solely of the theatrical trailer. The trade-off between the two versions is the improved Region 1 audio transfer (of questionable benefit for such a dialogue heavy film) versus the inherently superior PAL video transfer of Region 4. I would call it a draw in this case.

    The Business of Strangers is a well written, well directed and very well acted character study. The audio and video transfers are not demonstration material, but they are good solid performers with some intriguing cinematography. The acting of Channing and Stiles is excellent. Well worth a rental if you want to watch an engrossing, thoughtful film for a change.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good, but very frontal.

    The extras are negligible.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall