2/5
Arbitrage is a film that mystifies me in innumerable ways. Part of that is its plot, which whirlwinds past business concepts and legal mumbo jumbo with a little too much freedom. The story follows successful magnate Robert Miller (Gere) about to close the deal of a century: the sale of his hedge fund empire and with it the $400 million hole he's been hiding from his CFO and daughter (Marling). This sale will cure all his woes without any consequences (including being charged with fraud apparently, which seemed a little fishy to me). Miller is also hiding an affair from his wife (Sarandon), and things go from bad to worse when his mistress (Casta) dies in a car accident while he's driving.
The plot could have been salvaged by great directing, but it wasn't. Everything from cinematography to editing was simply mediocre. However, despite the middling technical aspects, the movie has two very interesting thematic threads. The first tackles the concept of image vs. depth, glossy sheen vs. true value. Gere plays a powerful man--does it matter that his company is worth nothing? The second describes the balancing act between work life and home life. It unravels this age-old battle down to the very core in two amazing scenes. The first is when Gere erupts and tells his own daughter that she's nothing more than his employee. The second is when Sarandon uses divorce as a bargaining chip for a business transaction. Still, these two flares of brilliance are not enough to light up the whole film. I would avoid it unless you know exactly what you're getting into--and if you knew that then you wouldn't need to see the film.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764183/