Arbitrage (2012) Review

 

“You Better Have a Warm Coat.”

★ ★ ★ ★ 

By: Kameron McBride

If you saw an article in your morning paper that a man accidentally killed his mistress during a midnight ride and that he also fled the scene of the crime in order to prevent being discovered, what would you think? It’s safe to assume that you wouldn’t think highly of this person right? If it also was discovered that this man had been lying about his business transactions in order to cover up a bad investment would that change your opinion? Probably not right? Now imagine if you were asked to spend an hour and forty–five minutes with this person, it probably wouldn’t be your ideal way to spend a weekend right?

This is the situation when watching Arbitrage, a thriller starring Richard Gere as Robert Miller, the businessman described in the above paragraph. This shouldn’t be someone we, as an audience, want to spend time with but due to a terrific story that ratchets up quite a bit of tension Arbitrage succeeds in creating a story that holds the audience from beginning to end.

As the story opens we meet Miller, a businessman who seems to be very successful. He runs a good business that includes his son and daughter as employees. He has a good relationship with his wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and is happy with his mistress Julie (Laetitia Casta), though he is always late meeting her. Not all is well, however, as Miller is overseeing a complicated sale of his business that includes him being audited and scrutinized closely.

Miller’s life continues to spiral out of control as he gets in the aforementioned accident that kills Julie. In desperation Miller calls Jimmy (Nate Parker), a friend who picks him up and drives him away from the scene. Of course Miller and Jimmy come under pressure from Detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth) who believes Miller is responsible for the death of Julie.

What is so interesting about Arbitrage is that we are following the wrong person for most of the film. Jimmy has all the characteristics of the hero of the story—he’s trying to turn his life around, appears loyal and behaves like a hero should—and yet we’re aligned with Miller who behaves like a villain should. Miller is a corrupt businessman who makes some despicable decisions and yet because of the story we are rooting for him to escape the involuntary manslaughter charge.

Jimmy is a fascinating character in that we are watching him try and decide how to help a villain escape a charge for which he should be convicted. It’s a good twist that keeps the story fresh and engaging, getting us to feel Jimmy’s indecision.

Gere was the perfect choice for this part. He’s naturally engaging but also convinces us that he’s a man pulling all the strings. Parker is terrific too, giving Jimmy an honest and yet conflicted quality that grants the story a moral grounding rather than allowing it to descend into cynicism.

There are a few problems with the story. Miller’s physical damage from the crash seems important early on but disappears midway through the story. I also wanted to see a little more of Sarandon in the story, though a late exchange between her character and Miller is very interesting. It shows Miller receiving the kind of reaction that he sowed into his family. They treat him coldly and as an associate rather than a father or husband.

Arbitrage is a tightly wound, intelligently crafted thriller. It holds the attention of the audience throughout and ends right when it should. For a film like this, it’s hard to ask for anything more.