Arbitrage

Although not strictly about the global financial meltdown, Nicholas Jarecki's accomplished directorial debut says more about the nature of corporate greed than worthier dramas like Margin Call. Richard Gere plays a hedge-fund mogul whose world has begun to fall apart, both professionally and personally. Not only is he caught up in a financial fraud that could scupper his plans to sell his company, but when he leaves the scene of a car accident that results in the death of his mistress (Laetitia Casta), he finds himself facing a potential prison sentence. The old silver fox Gere gives one of his best performances in recent years as the suave corporate shark, on the surface the charity-giving, caring face of capitalism, but willing to play every dirty trick in the book to save his fortune and liberty. Tim Roth is equally good as the dogged detective who, for once, doesn't want the rich to get away with it. Susan Sarandon and Brit Marling, as Gere's wife and daughter, also increase the value of this very polished thriller.