Christina Reviews *The Business of Strangers*

         Ok, don't accept a drink from a beautiful, young seductress who asks you, "What's your poison?" A fine moral, indeed. That is all I got out of this movie, which might as well have been called *The Business of Hangovers*.
         The first half of the movie was slow. Julie (Channing) is at some kind of business meeting. Her assistant, Paula (Stiles), comes in late. A little irked, Julie fires Paula, only not to her face. She does so by telling someone else over a cell phone that she is firing her assistant "Paula" while Paula is standing right next to her. Then later, Julie apologizes to Paula and offers her back her job. This happens in, of all places, a hotel bar. The rest of the movie is pretty much Paula giving Julie "the evil eye". And, as always, when you stick two ambitious women together opposite some hateful oppressive male, they connive.
      I wonder if the ending was supposed to be a clever twist (that failed), or a confirmation of my belief that Julie was a naive fool.
        So, overall, what messages does this movie convey?  Don't accept a drink from a stranger.  Don't get involved in a bizarre plot that involves the revenge of a stranger.  Don't black out in the company of a stranger.  Basically, just don't trust a stranger, period.

        As a grown up version of those Stranger Danger videos they showed you as a kid, this movie works.  As anything even remotely artistic, it sucks as miserably as Julie does at life.