Geekscape Goes to Sundance 2012: Arbitrage
As a graduate of a business school, any movies about Wall Street immediately catch my eye. However, Arbitrage is not really about Wall-Street, but rather about a privileged family whose patriarch happens to be a big Wall Street money man. Importantly, Arbitrage is simply a very good thriller.
I spent the majority of the film on the edge of my seat trying to think of a way for the lead character, Richard Miller (beautifully played by Richard Gere), to get out of the hot seat and I couldn’t. That’s what I loved about it – I found my heart racing, sitting at a movie called Arbitrage, that didn’t involve terrorists, tits, torpedos or tec-9 automatics. Plus, watching guys running around in suits is always refreshing since most L.A. locals dress like they are about to go wash their car – thus, 103 or so minutes of nice Brioni suits was a delight. The movie is gracefully shot with stunning visuals and includes solid performances by Brit Marling (Sundance alum with two movies here last year, incidentally a former employee of Goldman Sachs), Susan Sarandon, Nate Parker, and Tim Roth as a fiery pit bull of an NYPD detective. Based on his performance here, Roth may very likely book the next “bad lieutenant” style movie Hollywood produces. Nate Parker was also a standout, playing Jimmy, a part that took a long time to cast. He too, should be appearing in more films in the future based on his performance here (and is in fact in Red Tails, out in theaters now).
The film, lensed in just 31 days, revolves around Gere’s character (Miller) at a critical intersection as his career, family, and personal life begin to unravel. Miller runs a large investment firm and is a “market maker,” looking for discrepancies and opportunities in the markets and then exploiting and/or seizing and/or conquering them for profit and/or loss. At 60, Miller is at the height of his career but is looking to get out, while the past and present simultaneously catch up to him. In part as writer and first time director Nicholas Jarecki put it, “Miller is alone, and in a way he’s always been alone. That’s a little bit of his personal tragedy.” Gere’s character is shaped by “Money, Power, Sucess, and Sex,” pretty much in that order.
This film captures a man trapped and the critical, final, and brutal choices he is forced to make. His choice is not between right and wrong, but is rather in that gray area of “which is the lesser evil” and he has roughly 72 hours to deal with it, before the proverbial shit hits the fan. I really enjoyed Jarecki’s strong filmmaking (and he is only 25 years old!) combined with meaningful character portrayals. Jarecki is a graduate of NYU film school and has directed several music videos and commercials, none the less, it is surprising even to himself that he was trusted as a first time director by these established stars. What is important is that he did not steer them wrong.
Interestingly, in the Q& A, Jarecki explained that his script was inspired by the articles about Wall Street, published in Vanity Fair and commissioned by VF Editor Graydon Carter. What’s very cool is that Carter was cast in the film as Gere’s rival, and their big negotiation scene was indeed phenomenal.
I do not recall a traditional thriller coming out of Hollywood in a long time, and it’s refreshing to have just seen a great one.
