Greed in full Gere

‘Arbitrage' mirrors '80s excess, with Richard Gere as a tycoon who stands to lose it all

By Rene Rodriguez
The Miami Herald

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 14, 2012

~~<p>In "Arbitrage," Richard Gere pulls off a seemingly-impossible feat: He makes you care about Robert Miller, a corrupt hedge fund billionaire whose financial crimes are starting to catch up to him. Loosely inspired by the Bernie Madoff-types who sprouted up all over Wall Street in 2008, Robert is a cheat, a liar and a thief — he's irredeemable — but Gere somehow makes you like him anyway, playing him as a once-imperious man, now humbled and trying to work his way out of a mess.</p>
<p>His mess just happens to be enormous. Gere has always excelled at portraying smooth, elegant men who know a little more than everyone else in the room. But in "Arbitrage" he's playing a different note: desperation.</p>
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<td><strong>‘ARBITRAGE’</strong><br />
<strong>Rated:</strong> R<br />
Opens today at Consolidated Kahala<br />
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In "Arbitrage," Richard Gere pulls off a seemingly-impossible feat: He makes you care about Robert Miller, a corrupt hedge fund billionaire whose financial crimes are starting to catch up to him. Loosely inspired by the Bernie Madoff-types who sprouted up all over Wall Street in 2008, Robert is a cheat, a liar and a thief — he's irredeemable — but Gere somehow makes you like him anyway, playing him as a once-imperious man, now humbled and trying to work his way out of a mess.

His mess just happens to be enormous. Gere has always excelled at portraying smooth, elegant men who know a little more than everyone else in the room. But in "Arbitrage" he's playing a different note: desperation. ‘ARBITRAGE’ Rated: R Opens today at Consolidated Kahala Login for more...