3.5/5
Stars
60-year old New York hedge-fund magnate
Robert Miller ‘appears’ to be leading an extremely comfortable life. Portrayed
as an efficient businessperson and family man, Miller enjoys a great reputation
among his family and peers. However, the too-good-to-be-true success story gets
demystified as we learn about his deep, dark secrets. And then, a car crash
ensues.
Armed with a gripping plot with sublime
dialogues, ‘Arbitrage’ is one of the finest ‘drama’ films in recent times.
Robert Miller (Richard Gere), a 60-year-old
business tycoon, equates everything with money. In a dialogue from the film, he
is unequivocally told by someone, “Money doesn’t buy everything,” and Miller
almost vehemently retorts, “What else does?” He appears to be a very well-off family
person; however, none of the two descriptions are true. In reality, he has been
hiding the fact that the reason he is desperately trying to sell off his
trading empire to a major bank is so that his fraudulent practices (misplacing
funds amounting to $412 million) are not revealed to his investors. Even his
family, including his daughter Brooke Miller (Brit Marling), are unaware about
the discrepancies in the company’s balance sheets.
Moreover, the family person tag doesn’t
quite fit him. As much of a devoted husband, to wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) he
may appear in New York’s social circle, he has been having an affair with a
French art-dealer Julie Côte (Laetitia Casta). Julie, who it seems is in love
with Robert, is losing patience with him. Robert, meanwhile, is finding it
really difficult to balance his financial doldrums with the extra-marital
affair.
In the middle of all of this, there is a
car crash, where Julie gets killed. The car is set ablaze and turns out;
Robert’s dark secrets are on the verge of getting revealed to the world. One
lapse of judgment risks Robert his money, family and freedom. Enter the NYPD
detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth), who will unrelentingly pursue the truth
behind the crime, even if he has to use unfair means.
The plot, in a way, seemed very similar to
Woody Allen’s ‘Match Point’. The ending might leave you a bit puzzled, but the
fact is that this is very close to what actually happens in real life. As the
dialogue implies, if money doesn’t buy everything, what else does?
Richard Gere and Tim Roth, as the suspect
and detective respectively, are exceptional. The best part was that it wasn’t a
case of black v/s white. Both of their characters were grey. It was more about
who was luckier. Definitely, the colour of money (green) also had to play its
part! Both of them offer a great mix of being subtle and theatrical. The female
characters in the film come across as strong, independent women. Sure, their
lives are affected because of one man (Robert Miller), but they do hold their
own. Susan Sarandon plays the kept-in-dark, unassuming wife, not entirely aware
about her husband’s secrets. However when she does learn about them, she knows
how to settle scores. Brit Marling, who plays the chief investment officer of
the fraudulent company owned by her father, gives a phenomenal performance.
Even the French mistress, played by Laetitia Casta, is an important character.
Although the screen time given to Laetitia isn’t much, but the character hovers
over the proceedings throughout and she does a good job in establishing such a
strong presence.
Nicholas Jarecki, writer-director, delivers
an outstanding film. The story could have gone the conventional way, but the
director chose to stick to his guns. Douglas Crise’s editing keeps the film
taut and concise without a single low point in the 100-minute-long film.
There’s a powerful message (not necessarily
righteous) embedded in the film. Watch it for the brilliant performances. Take
a bow, Richard Gere, who hasn’t lost his sheen at all! (First Posted in MSN)
Shivom
Oza
Good review Shivom. Gere is not my favorite actor, but he's good here and makes this character a whole lot more interesting than he had any right to be. I don't think it deserves an Oscar nomination, but it's nice to actually see a good performance from him while also trying something a bit darker with his act.
ReplyDeleteI do want to see this film. The important thing to learn here is that a message needn't be righteous. Life is far from righteous.
ReplyDelete