6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Hedge-fund manager Robert Miller has power, wealth, a long-term wife, and a devoted daughter and heir, but his closely guarded perfect life could be destroyed if his secret investment fraud is revealed, as well as his complicity in a fatal late-night car crash.
Starring: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia CastaDrama | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 kbps)
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Part of the fun of subscribing to trade papers like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter is watching the sometimes hyperbolic ad campaigns that various studios mount to garner various award nominations, whether those be from critics’ fests, regional fetes, or bigger kahunas like The Golden Globes or The Academy Awards. One of the biggest campaigns currently running is centered around Richard Gere in Arbitrage, noting the fact that this actor has never even been nominated for an Oscar before, let alone won one, and that his character in this film has provided him with one of his better latter day opportunities. Gere essays a role that is in some ways a very bizarre amalgamation of Bernie Madoff and Ted Kennedy (yes, you read that right), depicting a duplicitous and highly successful businessman who has not only built his fortune on massive deceit (read: Madoff) but then has the temerity to get his mistress killed in a horrific car accident, trying to cover up his involvement in the tragedy lest it affect his career (read: Kennedy). The word “arbitrage” is bandied about with relative frequency these days, but many probably have little idea of what the term actually means. It has several meanings, but in a way all of them relate to “gaming the system” to make a quick and easy profit (economists and brokers are no doubt warming up their typing fingers to dash off a rude email to me, but I think the essence of a very technical situation is captured in that description). Gere’s character Robert Miller is in fact so used to gaming the system that in a way he has come to assume that the game is the system, and that’s where the suspense and drama of this interesting if not always credible film resides.
Arbitrage is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. I
never saw Arbitrage in its theatrical exhibition and so cannot offer an opinion about how accurately this transfer
recreates the original look of the film, but I was just mildly surprised at how overly soft a lot of the interior sequences (by
far the bulk of the film) seemed to be, especially in darker environments like the inside of limousines or the shaded confines
of the Millers' palatial bedroom. Contrast in these moments isn't overwhelmingly strong, either. If you can get past those
two perhaps niggling qualms, the rest of this high definition presentation looks quite sharp and well detailed indeed.
Close-ups (of which there are many) bristle with fine detail, colors are accurate and some of the exterior shots in and
around Manhattan look fantastic and exhibit no stability problems whatsoever.
Note: This is one of the most maddeningly authored Lionsgate Blu-ray discs I've encountered, and is in fact the first
time any Lionsgate title I've personally reviewed has exhibited these anomalies. Not only are the six (count 'em) previews
unskippable, my PS3 repeatedly gave me a "There is no Top Menu" prompt when I kept trying to access the menu, which is
normally immediately accessible on Lionsgate titles. Add to this fact that several of the previews are in different resolutions
and added loading time takes place between each of them. Rather interestingly, a Top Menu does indeed show up
ultimately, though as you're playing the film, there once again is no Top Menu available, and in fact hitting Pop Up Menu only
gives you the option to access the so-called Main Menu (i.e., there's no way to get to subtitles or special features).
Hopefully Lionsgate will go back to its old practice, as this was definitely annoying in the extreme.
Arbitrage's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is a purposefully low key, deliberately restrained mix that features some good but subtle surround activity, especially with regard to Cliff Martinez's brooding minimalist score. There are brief explosions of surround activity in some crowd scenes (like the art gallery Miller visits) and one really devastating piece of LFE when the car goes tumbling down the freeway. Dialogue is very cleanly presented as is occasionally quite nicely directional as well. Due to the nature of Arbitrage, this isn't a very "showy" mix, but it's very nuanced and well done, with excellent fidelity and decent dynamic range.
I was sort of half expecting Arbitrage to be another "weighty" drama a la Margin Call, but for me personally this outing with duplicitous high rollers on Wall Street was a much more satisfying, exciting experience. Part of this is due to the fact that Jarecki is working in several idioms simultaneously, and the cat and mouse game that takes up the central act of the film adds a nice thriller element to the proceedings that Margin Call never had (nor obviously tried to have). Probably also helping this film is the fact that it has one central character, one of the most fascinatingly shaded characters in recent memory, and one whom Gere brings vividly to smarmily elegant life. Sarandon is also a marvel, as is a largely game supporting cast (I was little unenthused by Tim Roth's Peter Falk impersonation, but your mileage may vary). Greed has never been better. Highly recommended.
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