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Richard Gere gets his Bernie Madoff on in “Arbitrage,” a solid, if not always air-tight, thriller set in the upper echelons of New York high society. Directed by documentarian and screenwriter Nicholas Jarecki, who makes his narrative feature debut, the film casts Gere as Robert Miller, a shifty hedge fund magnate in multiple levels of hot water. Not only are his financial misdeeds on the verge of coming to light, he’s also caught in the wake of committing vehicular manslaughter, an incident that claimed the life of his secret mistress (Laetitia Casta).
The dual dilemmas make for a juicy and complex story, which follows Robert as he shrewdly pulls his many strings to get away with murder. Lesser movies may have opted for one crisis, or crumbled beneath the strain of piling on both, but Jarecki manages balance and layered intrigue, presenting conflicts that amount to the kind of fire Robert spends his life putting out. In the main character, the movie offers an urgent, white-collar beast of an antihero, whose efforts to free himself rope in your support, but whose innate corruption remains utterly deplorable.
“Arbitrage” suggests that last year’s “Margin Call” was no fluke, and that we may be looking at a budding sub-genre of post-recession indictments of the Wall Street sect. Given the grippingly wordy, largely intelligent nature of these titles, it’s a movement worth following. Like J.C. Chandor, director of “Margin Call,” Jarecki has a knack for talking-room tension, and he employs a game cast to bring his words to life.
Gere is gaining buzz for his love-to-hate leading turn, and Susan Sarandon is faithfully impressive as a wife who turns a blind eye before unleashing her wrath, but the standout player is 29-year-old Brit Marling, a budding star who thus far only has appeared in films that she herself developed. Under the care of a different filmmaker, Marling shines even brighter, and in her few scenes as Robert’s flabbergasted daughter and employee, she makes a mighty impact. In a sense, her character reflects anyone who’s been affected by the crimes of folks like Robert — which is to say, everyone.
Arbitrage
R
Three reels out of four
Opens tomorrow at the Ritz at the Bourse
Recommended Rental
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
PG-13
Available Tuesday
Things get a little syrupy at “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a goes-down-easy concoction from “Shakespeare in Love” director John Madden. But who can complain when the cast is this good?
The movie boasts a bevy of fantastic British stars, including Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, and Tom Wilkinson. The romance and coming-of-old-age that ensue when their characters retreat to an Indian resort are made lovable thanks to the actors’ fine gifts.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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