"Arbitrage"

Rated R
1 hour 40 minutes

(WWLP) - If Richard Gere isn't careful, he's liable to give Wall Street billionaires a bad name, as he does in the gripping thriller "Arbitrage".

Beneath his glittering surface of success, Gere faces financial disaster. He's engaged in shady speculations once too often. When his daughter Brit Marling points out a 4 hundred million dollar gap in the balance sheet, Gere brushes it off with "That's ridiculous. He'll get back to her".

This master of monetary manipulation should have no trouble covering up his responsibility for the traffic death of his favorite mistress. And just when it seems Susan Sarandon will continue her one dimensional wifely role as Gere's enabler, she suddenly comes alive with righteous indignation.

Gere's spellbinds wheeling and dealing is so masterful you can almost forgive his ethical shortcomings, or at the very least feel his exhilaration at winning.

Tim Roth plays by the same sleazy rules. Roth gives an entertaining performance using less than wholesome Detective work trying to nail the fat cat. But with so much at stake, can they really just sweep it all under the rung?

Richard Gere's marvelous performance should seal the deal for an Oscar nomination. It's the best acting Gere's ever done. That, together with a powerful script, make "Arbitrage" stock worth 4 stars.

There are times when "Arbitrage" just takes your breath away.