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Arbitrage

6/10

Stars: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling, Tim Roth, Nate Parker, Laetitia Casta, Stuart Margolin, Bruce Altman, Chris Eigeman

Director: Nicholas Jarecki

Once upon a time, Richard Gere was derided for what were perceived as surface performances, but the silver fox has improved with age, and there's nothing glib about his very three-dimensional, well-crafted portrayal of Robert Miller, a hedge fund millionaire with a portfolio full of troubles.

Seemingly a devoted family man, with a loving wife (Sarandon) and a smart daughter (Marling) who's his deputy at his firm, Miller in fact spends much of his time with his artist mistress (Casta), whom he's set up in a ritzy apartment. Already facing financial disaster if he doesn't move fast, it's his lover who threatens his world with implosion, when she's killed in a crash while he's driving.

Fleeing the scene, he enlists the son (Parker) of a former associate to drive him away, and tries to hide the damage to his ribs at home. Detectives (Roth, Eigeman) naturally soon smell a rat, but Miller's a slippery customer, and they make the mistake of fabricating evidence against him to pin him down. But that's not the end of the story, which climaxes on a satisfyingly ambivalent note, even if the drama itself seems dragged out beyond its natural length.

The film's studied approach does lead us to spot holes in the plot and unlikely circumstances that we might otherwise miss. But the performances of Gere and Sarandon - especially in a scene together near the end - are more than worth our attention. Tighter control overall by the director, in fact, might have made this a cracking suspense drama.

David Quinlan

USA 2012. UK Distributor: Koch Media Entertainment. Colour (unspecified).
107 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 1, Swearing 2.

Review date: 28 Feb 2013