La frode

It had been a while since I had either seen Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon or Tim Roth in anything noteworthy but to my own surprise, this was being a solid thriller, with truly some great performances by its cast.

It is absolutely true that without its cast this would had been a very formulaic, standard, average, little thriller. As a matter of fact, it more feels like an extended "Law & Order" episode. The characters and developments aren't anything surprising but the movie truly gets made interesting by its cast, who also help to make this a convincing and effective thriller.

I have never even been a too big fan of Richard Gere but he simply was absolutely great in this! He mostly carries this entire movie and he does this by playing a sort of despicable character. So it's a real accomplishment by him that he still managed to turn the main character into a still likable enough one, that you never lost interest in. He doesn't make the right choices throughout the movie but that's what keeps his character interesting and helps to let the movie move along, even during its slower moments.

It's the sort of thriller in which everything starts to go from bad to worse for its main character, when his lies and actions only get him in more and deeper problems and drags those close to him down, along with him.

But really, it remains a far from perfect thriller and still does plenty of things wrong. It does a poor job at handling some of its characters for instance. For example, it heavily under uses the Susan Sarandon character, who could had given the movie a whole other dimension and some more depth with her character. After all, she plays the main character's wife, who has certain knowledge about things that don't come into play until very late into the movie, when things are already starting to wrap up. The whole dynamic between her and the Gere character had much more potential really and I thought it was a real shame this didn't get explored any further and better. Also, I would had loved to have seen more of Susan Sarandon, since she gave away a great performance.

That's a bit of a problem with this entire movie; it just doesn't know how to handle and what to do with certain characters. The Tim Roth character also definitely feels a bit underused. When he shows up you think he is going to play a big and important role for this movie but in fact there are large portions of the movie in which his character plays no role at all. I absolutely loved his scene with Richard Gere and I was hoping for more moments like that, which unfortunately just never came.

I still really enjoyed this thriller and at times was even loving it. It's definitely a better than average genre attempt, despite still having a very standard and familiar type of premise and story in it. So in essence, nothing surprising but it's all still very well made and acted out by its impressive cast, which already is worth the price alone.

7/10

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Arbitrage is the first motion picture by New York University graduate Nicolas Jarecki. It tells a story of magnate who almost fails in selling his own trading empire. But before that, he rules a huge family consisting of wife (Susan Sarandon), a son - who seems to be very unimportant person, so that director tells almost nothing about him and a daughter Brooke - skillful professional in business and probably the only person who's able to catch up with father's "mistakes". Robert also deals with young, passionate lover Julie.

But everything goes wrong when Julie dies in car accident when Robert was driving and Brooke finds his father in fraudulence.

Now Robert Miller has to struggle against two people: detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth) and his own daughter and none of them is going to step back.

I am not going to tell how well Gere's character manages this but I can definitely tell you that Richard, as an actor, did a great job. Possibly it's the best performance of his career. Anyone can name his memorable roles but this one is no doubt the best. He delivers an emotional, stressed and very precise acting and looks very natural which makes his work really brilliant.

But the best part of this movie is Nicolas Jarecki. It's not easy to write and direct the film at the same time, especially when it is your first time. He wrote a beautifully crafted script and transferred it professionally on the screen. The more you watch bigger the tension gets and you want to know whether it will end up in a good way. The writer has intelligently stuck surprising details throughout the story and that made whole movie more dynamic.

So, I found Arbitrage to be an attractive, smart and well produced movie and believe that it could be a perfect star for Nicolas's directing or writing career.

"What's your price?" The question haunts Richard Gere's character of Robert Miller, a vain hedge fund manager married to Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and preparing to hand down his business dynasty to his daughter Brooke (Brit Marling). That is, until a freak accident with his mistress coincides with a self-perpetrating fraud scandal. Now confronted with unprecedented stress, Miller has to fight to keep his family and business intact.

Richard Gere's absence on the Oscar nomination stage for the entirety of his career will hopefully be ended with this stunning character study. Gere is in perfect form, personifying a complicated man who for once sees the results of his narcissistic actions. While his empire crumbles, his personal life goes the same way. Every scene Gere is in brings to light just how powerful an actor he is.

But an actor would be nothing without a powerful script. The author of the film's screenplay is also the film's director, Nicholas Jarecki, the co-author of the 2009 film adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis film "The Informers". In his largest film yet, Jarecki keeps with themes of arrogance that comes with power. The script moves at a brisk pace, keeping your attention and leaving you nearly breathless once you've reached the conclusion.

Cinematography and setting blend easily into the background of these character's actions. New York City is brought to live, as she has countless times before, as the epicenter and culmination of the good and the bad. But what sets the screen apart from any other NYC-set film is the fact that nothing seems to be done to make NYC any more like NYC. The film's version of the city is exactly how it is in real life.

Susan Sarandon, still as beautiful as ever, steals her scenes as Miller's powerful wife. As does Brit Marling and especially Nate Parker, newcomers full of promise. The sole weak spot is, surprisingly, the performance of Tim Roth, the detective. His character starts the film with a Brooklyn-type accent. In his second scene Roth seems to attain his native Cockney accent, then lose it as the film progresses. He ends with a bizarre jumble of both.

"Arbitrage" is an intelligent, engaging thriller about the depths of bad decisions made from the arrogance of power. It is a must-see of the 2012 film season.

Arbitrage – CATCH IT (B+) Arbitrage is an interesting thriller New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller (Richard Gere) on the eve of his 60th birthday; he appears the very portrait of success in American business and family life. But behind the gilded walls of his mansion, Miller is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire to a major bank before the depths of his fraud are revealed. Struggling to conceal his duplicity from loyal wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and brilliant daughter and heir-apparent Brooke (Brit Marling), Miller's also balancing an affair with French art-dealer Julie Cote (Laetetia Casta). Just as he's about to unload his troubled empire, an unexpected bloody error forces him to juggle family, business, and crime with the aid of Jimmy Grant (Nate Parker), a face from Miller's past. Arbitrage has a very interesting concept, when you thought its only about the financial corruption, the movie takes a huge turn and we see a 60 years old man wounded juggling to control his financial status along with the crime he committed unintentionally. Richard Gere is phenomenal in Arbitrage; there isn't a moment when he surprises you with his brilliant performance. I have to say after a really long time I saw Richard Gere in a movie up to his caliber. Susan Sarandon is elegant and even though she doesn't have as many scenes as I would have wanted but still she impresses me as always. Brit Marling, the writer/director/actress of Another Earth is eloquent and stands tall in front of veterans like Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere. She was so good that I wanted to see more of her even though she was the most featured female among the cast. He NY central part scene with Richard Gere is simply amazing. I would love to see her soon in other movies. She is someone to watch out for in 2013. Laetitia Casta is gorgeous and Nate Parker did his part with utmost honesty. Even though I wanted to see the family dynamics of Robert Miller more but as it's a thriller they kept the movie short to emphasizes on more important matters. I had good time watching it. It's a good thriller.

Nobody does make believe billionaire as well as Richard Gere, something about the way he carries himself encourages audiences to believe he really is that rich, powerful and connected.

Robert Miller is a hedge fund magnate with it all, money, beautiful wife (Sarandon) who dabbles in charity work and a son and daughter (Marling) who both work for him, to differing levels of competency.

Miller has decided to sell his firm to a financial company desperate to plug a gap in their suite of services and products. Talking of gaps, Miller is desperately trying to paper over some financial cracks of his own, borrowing the odd $400 million to ensure pre-sale audits go well.

When presented with the first few images and sentiments, those with a healthy dose of cynicism are just waiting to be introduced to Miller's other life. Enter stage left, the struggling beautiful art dealer, who is being kindly helped by Miller to negotiate her way through the perils of small business ownership. Such assistance being mainly bedroom based will come as no surprise.

Of course modern thrillers are like buses, there is always another one around the corner. What sets this apart is the supporting cast, including Tim Roth as Detective Bryer, desperate to nail at least one bad guy protected behind expensive lawyers. Nate Parker as Jimmy, the person Miller calls when he really needs help and of course his wife played by Susan Sarandon, supportive, self aware and enjoying the fruits of his labour.

Central to the film is Gere, who has not always chosen parts wisely in the past but here plays a character he can really sell to the audience. Morally ambiguous, ruthless yet loyal, he manages to make a character we really should not like, somehow likable. Arguably encouraging questionable and morally perplexing empathy from the viewer, as his choices dwindle to rock and hard place territory.

Gere can act and does so here, Roth manages to convey the woes of the world and is especially good in the first scene with Gere. Not so much a modern fable but a story that evokes that feeling afterwards, how far would you go to protect what you have. Also rather curiously, why would you end up rooting for the bad guy?

Not perfect, Britt Marling perhaps not making the most of her emotional scenes. At times the film lacks a harder edge, would Jimmy ever really be that reasonable. However overall, a cut above the mainstream and well worth two hours of your time.

Summary

A smart, deliciously amoral tale with a strong turn from Gere, choosing a role that suits his talents. Ignored at the box office but hopefully finding a well deserved following at home.

Good script, pacing and an interesting ending to this financial based thriller that does not require you to know that Arbitrage means to 'take advantage of a price difference between two or more markets'.

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