This film stars Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles in a character based story that is basically a psychological battle between the two women, as well as their resulting revenge plot.  The film has very good acting and some good dialogue.  But after an intriguing beginning, the story ends up going nowhere and you could care less about the characters involved.

      The movie starts out where Julie (Stockard Channing), a successful business woman, is at the end of a long business trip and is relaxing in her hotel bar when Paula (Julia Stiles) shows up.  Paula just happens to be the employee who ruined Julie's presentation by showing up late for the previous business meeting.  They start to bond when another employee named Nick shows up at the bar.  Paula's reaction to Nick is one of horror and revulsion because she later confesses to Julie that Nick raped a friend of hers years ago at college.  So, with their inhibitions loosened up by alcohol, the women plot a form of revenge.

      There is some engrossing psychological interplay between Julie and Paula, and you expect the movie to drive towards some riveting and suspenseful conclusion. But the revenge taken out on Nick is not very smart or compelling and the movie leaves you flat at the end.  I kept waiting for the movie to take my somewhere and it never did.  I did like the acting by all the actors involved.  It's too bad they couldn't showcase these characters in a much better written story.