A crisp procedural thriller set in the gilded world of high finance, Arbitrage joins the ranks of other recent capitalist-baiting features such as Money Never Sleeps and Margin Call. Like those films, it rages against a stacked financial system that rewards theft and corruption provided the perpetrators are wealthy, powerful and white.
The directorial debut of Nicholas Jarecki sees Richard Gere play Wall Street billionaire Robert Miller, who is trying to conceal both an affair and some high-level financial fraud. After a bloody accident and some astute investigations by his idealistic daughter and business heir (Brit Marling), Robert’s coolly rationalised, carefully controlled world teeters on the brink.
The best he’s been in years, Gere is regal, nuanced and assured, his trademark open features hardening over time as the sense of entitlement, invincibility and Machiavellian tendencies of this one-percenter are put to the test. Marling is stunning as Robert’s foil, a symbol of trust and naiveté destroyed in the crossfire. Susan Sarandon sizzles as Robert’s seemingly picture-perfect wife who has her own agenda brewing. The iciness that plays out between them indicates that in this world, every relationship is transactional, even marriage.
There’s much to admire about Jarlecki’s assured technical directing, particularly the dark and jazzy score. With too many overly complicated supporting characters vying for attention, however, he fails to meld together the elements of murder mystery and Wall Street thriller. Instead of feeling like a united, ever more perilous Jenga tower of threats for Robert, they feel isolated and lack an urgency.
A mixed success.