Dir. Nicholas Jarecki
USA, 2012
Arbitrage
was recently released with an all-star cast of Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon,
and Tim Roth. The plot focuses on a hedge fund magnate who gets himself
fiscally and physically in trouble after a car accident that kills his
mistress. The storyline promises more than what can be found in the film.
This
is Jarecki’s larger film debut, compared to his penning of “The Informers” and
his filming of his short, “The Weight”. Although the script lacks certain
components, the performance by Gere, Sarandon, Roth and Brit Marling were
fantastic. Where the dialogue lacks or is obtuse, the actors make up for it
twofold. However, I wasn’t completely forgiving with the overall production of
the film. The dialogue, of course, circulates around the economic terms of
Miller’s (Gere’s character) fraud. However, I felt like the jargon of the
piece, although necessary, automatically distanced the audience from the
characters. At times the dialogue even seemed unreal, for example, the
penultimate scene between Gere and Sarandon (which is shown in the trailer
leaving the audience with no surprising element). The entirety of the plot
rises and falls without the sympathy of the audience. The climax seems more
mechanical than realized and is unforgiving to the actors work. I understand
that one is not supposed to empathize with Miller; yet, the entire execution is
very unsympathetic to the story itself.
Overall,
Jarecki seems to have a promising plotline, with actors who flesh out their
characters through their actions and not the dialogue. The details of the
script are what is lacking in this film, but perhaps, next time Jarecki will
find a story that better suits his writing.