"Arbitrage" : The Price Tags Of Human Mistakes

As years go by and the fame and stature of an actor grows, it becomes harder and harder to detach the stardom quality from the character he/she is playing on screen. This makes it difficult to really see the character from what is presented on the story and forget the glamorous baggage the performer carries. Sometimes films rely heavily on the mass appeal of a star, or they offer little room for the actors to try something new and exciting.This becomes the source of forced typecasting. Then all of a sudden a story comes along that exploits the talents of its well known cast, but fortunately provides them with layers of emotional depth. This is what Nicholas Jarecki's "Arbitrage" offer Richard Gere, who becomes a man with many mind bugling untied knots and facets. A very Hollywoodesque film in its conception and structure, but nonetheless, gripping and emotionally charged. In a story that involves intangibly robust sums of money, the human error and the personal lives of the players become crucial, money is just the driving force for all the family drama.

Robert Miller (Gere) is a millionaire in financial trouble, desperate to sell his company before the facade of success falls apart. His family seems ordinary (for a man in his position), and as soon as this economic misstep is over everything will go back to normal. Well is not so simple. Miller is involved with a young french curator, and when and accident makes him a involuntary murderer, the story tangles up radically. His business trouble now becomes dependant on his issues with the law. Such issues, rely on a single witness, Nate Parker as Jimmy Grant, who offers no other warranty than blind trust. Adding to this is the growing suspicion from his daughter Brooke (Brit Marling) and relentless detective Michel Bryer (Tim Roth). With all this side stories all coming back to one source, Miller himself, an array of moral questions arise. Should one wish for Miller to get caught? or for him to walk free? What is more harmful, the truth or the lack of it? What is Miller's biggest crime? Murder? Fraud? or his daughter's broken heart? Most of all, is there a right answer to any of these concerns?

The films is grounded on the idea that once you are at this ideal level of success and accomplishment, then the crippling blows must come from a different perspective. They will come from the data that cant be tempered with or sold: irrational human emotions. Although Miller's biggest problem appears to have dollar signs, we are shown a much more complex individual. Someone who carries the weight of dozens of lives on his shoulders, and whose mistakes create a ripple effect that can hurt anyone involved with him. He has thousands of masks that he interchanges as the situation requires.At the end we see how those closer to him have been pushed into wearing these masks in order to protect themselves from his consuming lies. Miller is constantly faced with the irrelevance of money once it forces people to overlook their morality and priorities in life. Therefore, best scenes in the film are those moments when Miller unveils himself in front of his daughter and wife, when all walls can come down and truth finally sees the light. It is eyeopening to hear how miller sees money as an omnipotent entity capable of giving it all and simultaneously ravaging it. There is never an apologetic moment for him, he is set out to fix this madness by any means necessary. However, when the calculating person confronts the family man the path its not so clear.

"Arbitrage" is unexpectedly satisfying. Very true  to its title, the assets in Robert Miller's world are at a continuous fight between what can be sold, stolen, or bought. Whether is love, forgiveness or an alibi, money is the only conceivable answer for  him. Richard Gere is here at his best, playing many shades of the same character at once. In a smaller, but superb role, Susan Sarandon provides a necessary final punch just so that our "hero" doesn't think he got away completely. I was honestly not expecting much of this film, as from the preview it seems like one more "rich people drama", but once the layers started to peel I was engaged. If there was ever a reasonable argument to watch a film for the starts in it, this is it. Directed by Nicholas Jarecki the film is now out in theaters. Grade A.