Arbitrage is a study in one man’s self-destruction

Robert Miller’s blessings and curses are nicely summed up in a single line of dialogue from his wife: “It’s only $2-million!”

The offhand nature of the remark tells us how rich he is. And the fact that he’s having a hard time pulling the money together for a promised donation indicates the depth of his financial trouble. Having your whole world come crashing down is never good, but the higher you’ve built it, the more it’s going to hurt.

Robert is played by Richard Gere, 63. Robert is a Wall Street mogul whose problems will be familiar to anyone who’s picked up the financial section of the newspaper in the past five years. He’s over-leveraged. His business associate (Larry Pine) wants him to pay back the $412-million he recently borrowed. It’s only $412-million!

Arbitrage is a first feature from writer/director Nicholas Jarecki. He wastes no time setting up Robert’s self-made predicament — then abruptly makes it much, much worse.

Gere is fantastic as a man barely keeping his life together. You can almost see the veins throbbing in his head as he tries to outwit, or at least outrun, his various accusers, creditors and family members, including his frosty wife (Susan Sarandon).

Jarecki makes Robert’s botherations border on the physical. He’s forever placing Gere in elevators, cars, offices and other little boxes that seem to have one way out. The film’s drama operates in the space between how hopeless his situation seems, and how much of that he’s willing to admit. It’s a gap that closes asymptotically.