Arbitrage

The title of Nicholas Jarecki's glossy thriller is a little misleading — it's not about risk arbitrage, the 1980s insider-trading practice that made Ivan Boesky (in)famous. There's arbitrage in Arbitrage, but it's the less sexy kind involving commodities futures, and it’s but a detail in a morality play about a man who thinks he can buy and sell people. Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is a wealthy hedge fund manager worried about the impending sale of his teetering empire. Robert's life appears privileged and serene — Yorick Le Saux's gleaming nocturnal cinematography casts an enviable glow on his tony Manhattan apartment. But secrets lurk, including a torrid affair with a beautiful French art dealer. A fateful swerve in a Mercedes plunges Robert's life into chaos, and he schemes desperately to evade questions from his wife (Susan Sarandon), a suspicious police detective (Tim Roth), and his daughter and business protegé (Brit Marling). This is a very conventional drama — nothing groundbreaking here — but it’s presented with considerable style.