Arbitrage (15)

Generic and predictable, but always watchable for the presence of Gere. It moves along at a reasonable pace, but becomes a protracted character study on moral principles. Could have been much better. The highlight for me was the ambient brilliance of Cliff Martinez's understated score that contextualises the complexities of the lead character.

a very overrated movie, it is ok viewing but it has been done better on any of the topics covered, not very original, clever or entertaining. It only satisfies on cynicism.

Difficult to know what rating to give arbitrage as it is not possible to find out from TO website where it is being shown.

Dull drama.

I agree that the TO 4 stars was too much. Still, the reviews seem pretty ungenerous. The film is enjoyable if you are after light entertainment. While there are a lot of characterisations and cliches the film is well-paced and well-acted. it is modern and makes you think about modern society.

Ignore the review below, this is a poor film with a very weak plot and characters who are cliched in the extreme. On a minor housekeeping point, I found the soundtrack to be very poor in places.

Incredible, not one but two reviews this week from TIMEOUT that for once I agree with. This is a 4* film. Sure it's flawed in areas but like the pseudo B movies gems such as 'Boiler Room' et al there's a lot of love put into this film. I do have a slight bias in that I love these finance films at the moment - (Margin Call, etc.). I found Gere hugely watchable and he put his heart and soul into the performance. If you don't take it too seriously Arbitrage is a solid tale of our times and ignore the other negative reviews here - it's definitely worth a watch!

Agree with the earlier postings about cliches and characterisations. However, for me, the plot just didn't stand up to scrutiny: what was he hiding from? His lover was killed by accident: his wife knew of his infidelities. The whole thing was so contrived. "Bonfire of the Vanities" did this so so much better. My advice: give it a miss.

I feel very let down and a bit misled by the 4star rating of this film. You definitely got it wrong on this one. Can't believe I actually went on a first date to see this! She's probably not gonna call me again. No thanks to you Mr. Tom Huddleston

I did a double-take to see a four star TO rating as this film falls way below that high standard despite promising so much more with its clever title, timely topic and cast list. This story and script is pedestrian with tired characterisations, so much so I wondered if a computer had constructed it putting a tick in all of the boxes you expect of a finance film nowadays. If it wasn't for such a great cast you'd think this was a made for TV low budget film knocked out indifferent to a sophisticated audience. I really wanted and expected to enjoy the film but could not engage with the film's endless clichés, but I did marvel at Gere's voluminous bouffant hair. I felt only a little better then I did after Cosmopolis so it is generous to score Arbitrage at 2 stars. Don't waste your money on this plodding dull film despite the strong lure of the cast, but if you do, let me know how TO get to 4stars. If you preview the trailer you will spoil the only plot twist and can then extrapolate the remaining arc.