Arbitrage Review: Scintillating Character
Study & Moral Bankruptcy in the Finance World
Perhaps the most flustering thing about writer-director Nicholas Jarecki’s scintillating debut is that this could be a ‘based on a true story’. The story is fiction but the characters, situations, moral ambiguities, and toxic world of Wall Street and Corporate America seem very bluntly true. It also features the best performance to date from Richard Gere.
Robert Miller is the CEO of a multi billion
capital company. On the surface his life is the epitome of the American dream:
a respected billionaire, a positive philanthropist and beloved father and
husband. His company even employs his son and daughter (Brit Marling) in high executive
positions. Miller however has many plates spinning that threaten to bring his
world to a devastating crash. He is desperately trying to sell off his company
to hide his fraudulent activities and prevent a car accident involving his
mistress from sending him to jail and even worse - financial ruin.
The rest of the cast is superb. Susan
Sarandon is reliable as ever as Miller’s wife who is not just a passive
billionaire’s spouse. Brit Marling gives a breakout performance as Miller’s
daughter who suspects her father’s fraudulent dealing. Tim Roth also gives a
superb supporting turn (by seemingly channelling Robert De Niro) as a beat cop
who badly wants to pin Miller’s scalp to the wall and win one for the little
guy.
Arbitrage is set in a post-crash Wall
Street. Miller is a man insulated from the higher echelons of society. He calls
on a young black man, Jimmy (Nate Parker) to bail him out of a jam which highlights
the still existing racial and social divides in modern post-Obama America.
Jarecki is certainly a talent to watch. His debut is a fascinating character
study of a man with the perception of wielding incredible power yet tangibly
owning none of it. Jarecki also does not judge his central character. He makes
the audience route for the ‘hero’ to escape from the jaws of destruction
despite his moral bankruptcy. This hero, in his most honest exchange, describes
money as ‘God’. He worships at the altar of capitalism – and his God has no
plans on smiting him just yet.
4/5
