Arbitrage is a wonderful title, if perhaps a tad high-brow, to describe a film about a power mogul losing control over both his personal and professional lives. When you have a lot to lose, the prospect of risk-free profit is beyond enticing, it’s gotta be your bible. But there is nothing risk free about having a mistress and there is nothing risk free about borrowing $412 M dollars. Yes. Four-hundred-and-twelve million dollars. What do you say when you come up short? “I’m good for it. I’ll pay you back, I swear.” Pretty sure $412 M is well beyond leg-breaking territory. It kind of amounts to broken legs for, say, the entire Upper East Side. How long do you suppose that takes, anyway?
Robert Miller (Richard Gere) has it all figured out. He found his way to the top; he celebrated. Now it’s time to sell the company and relax with Julie (Laetitia Casta), the other woman. It’s not a perfect plan. I mean, he has a wife (Susan Sarandon) and any man who assumes his wife doesn’t know about the other woman is a fool. He also played loose with the company books to make his sale more attractive. You know … your standard fraud ‘n’ broad. As we impatiently await the scene where she makes a scene, a funny thing happens: Life. In taking the other woman away for the weekend, Robert gets drowsy and flips his car the highway. He escapes with minor bruises, but she breaks her neck and dies and then the car blows up.
Well, whatchagonnado now? This is where it gets good – we can all see quite clearly how Robert is conflicted between two plans of action – the noble one where he owns up to everything and the coward’s way out, where his life is allowed to proceed. Problem is owning up to the crime will not only cost his social life, it will almost certainly lead to jail time for fraud as well. You’re one of the wealthiest people in the entire world and you are suddenly confronted with a dead mistress, a car on fire and no way to return easily back to home. Oh, and if you seek public help, you go to jail for 20 years. What do you do, hotshot?
Arbitrage didn’t cheat Robert’s dilemma, nor on the people he drags down with him, including his wife, his daughter (Brit Marling) and 
probably the only black guy he knows, Jimmy (Nate Parker). Arbitrage didn’t cheat on Robert’s feelings, either. He felt for Julie, no question, and was probably as torn as anyone that he had no ability to show it in public. You want to scoff, but this probably comes up every once in a while. The loss of a lover must be heartbreaking whether you’re allowed to show it or not.
Tim Roth showed up again. He has an uncanny knack of playing a bad guy no matter what the script calls for. As Detective Michael Bryer, Tim once turned a character we should have backed — he wants to solve a homicide — into a solid interest in an overly wealthy manipulator. Wait a sec … how did that happen? Miller defrauds $412 M and walks away from a death he caused and we want this guy to do better than the police detective? Man, that’s screwed.
Richard Gere is over 60 years old. So is Susan Sarandon. I want to look like that when I’m over 60. Heck, I wanna look like that now. For the love of Nicholas Sparks, what satanic deal did you guys make? Did it cost $412 M?
♪Well I’m on top of the world
Looking down on creation
And money seems to be my biggest care
And this mistress I found
Uh oh, she’s not around
If my life goes south at least I have great hair. ♫
Rated R, 100 Minutes
D: Nicholas Jarecki
W: Nicholas Jarecki
Genre: Rules for the 1%
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Zillionaires
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Poverty line loiterers
