Patrick Stettner (USA)
Having broken through the glass ceiling, a middle-aged executive (Stockard Channing) finds herself at the very top of the corporate ladder. But the price has been steep, and she knows it - by turns tough and vulnerable, the exec is painfully honest in assessing the compromises demanded on the road to glory. The film follows her during an extended stop-over in an airport hotel, where she encounters a junior consultant in the firm - a 20-something woman (Julia Stiles) whose attitudes and ambitions are strikingly different. From across this generational divide, the two forge a tenuous relationship that oscillates between trust and betrayal, candour and deceit. The ending is meant to keep us guessing, and perhaps succeeds too well - the ambiguities feels a bit forced and self-conscious. Still, the acting sells the picture - Channing is always compelling, and Stiles holds her own in every shot. - R.G.

(Fri. Sept. 7, 9:30 p.m., Uptown 1; Sat. Sept. 8, 9:15 a.m., Varsity 8.)