“Arbitrage” hands Richard Gere the type of role that fits him like a tailored Armani suit.
Gere again plays a smooth, wealthy and powerful man who forces the audience to constantly re-evaluate whether they like him. This is a part Gere plays well, and for a while he lifts “Arbitrage” above its lightweight script.

Gere is Robert Miller, a hedge fund manager who is one of Wall Street’s richest wolfs. He is trying to sell his company before anyone discovers it is bankrupt. Robert is running out of time. A friend agreed to essentially park $400 million in the company’s accounts to disguise its lack of funds, but the friend wants his money back, with interest, by Friday.

No one suspects the company is in trouble because Robert is such an accomplished liar, he probably convinces himself. At his 60th birthday party with his wife (Susan Sarandon), children and grandchildren, Robert delivers a moving speech about how family matters most to him. Then he slips out to visit his French mistress (Laetitia Casta).