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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Arbitrage (2012)

Arbitrage (2012)

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Released 2-Jan-2013

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio
Featurette-Making Of-2
Interviews-Cast & Crew
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2012
Running Time 102:20
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (63:20) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Nicholas Jarecki
Studio
Distributor

Madman Entertainment
Starring Richard Gere
Susan Sarandon
Tim Roth
Brit Marling
Laetitia Casta
Nate Parker
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music Cliff Martinez


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The global final crisis has spawned a number of films and television shows using financial markets as their backdrop. One of these is Arbitrage, a dramatic thriller set in the world of high finance. This was a low budget film, made for only $12 million by young writer/director Nicholas Jareki. This is his first feature film as writer and director after previously making a feature documentary and writing the screenplay for another feature. The film appeared at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe for the lead performance of Richard Gere. It has also won a couple of other awards and been nominated for more.

     The story involves a Wall St hedge fund magnate, Robert Miller (Richard Gere) who has built a very successful business over the years and is nearing his 60th birthday. His wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) is a philanthropist supporting a number of high profile causes. Their children are also successful and his daughter Brooke (Brit Marling) is the Chief Investment Officer in his company. As the film opens, Miller has been approached by a major investment bank to sell his business to them and they are in negotiations on price. This all sounds too good to be true and it is. Miller is plugging a huge hole in his company’s finances, hoping to complete the deal before the buyer works it out. As well as this, his stress levels are also being raised by his relationship with his mistress, a young French artist, who wants more from him than he can give. As he tries to keep everything together more strands of his life start to come undone. When his mistress dies in a car crash, the police also become involved led by tenacious detective, Michael Bryer (Tim Roth). Can he win in the end or will he be caught in his own complex web of deceit?

     This is a quality film based on an interesting premise and highlighted by a high quality performance from Richard Gere, who was deservedly nominated for a Golden Globe. The film is thought provoking and dramatic and refreshingly doesn't pander to its audience with too much exposition, allowing the story to unfold. Occasionally, especially at the end, this does leave some unanswered questions but this should not be a problem for intelligent audiences. This film is more of a drama than the traditional thriller but certainly has some thriller elements. It is definitely not an action thriller.

     Recommended for fans of quality drama.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is very good.

     The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout for DVD, without being spectacular. Shadow detail was very good.

     The colour was very good with no issues to report.

     There was some mild motion blur and occasional minor macro blocking.

     There are no subtitles which is a shame.

     There is a layer change at 63:20 which is quite bad, causing a significant pause.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is very good.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1. This is not an action film so you cannot expect a home theatre test disc here.

     Dialogue was generally clear and easy to hear and understand, although subtitles would have helped with some lines.

     The music by Cliff Martinez provides significant atmosphere without being a total standout.

     The surround speakers are used mostly for atmosphere however spring to life during the occasional more active scenes such as the car crash or a plane going past.

     The subwoofer supports the car crash and the music.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     A decent selection of extras.

Menu

     The menu included music.

A Glimpse into Arbitrage (11:46)

     Pretty standard making of featurette covering characters, scripting, cast and shooting.

Who is Roger Miller? (5:04)

     Interviews with cast and crew about the character.

Interview with Richard Gere (5:23)

     Gere discusses what attracted him to the project, the characters and working on the film.

Interview with Nicholas Jareki & Nate Parker (7:15)

     The director and one of the supporting actors discuss the origins of the story and shooting the film, although the director probably talks for 6 or more of the 7 minutes. Still worth listening to.

Theatrical Trailer (2:19)

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    From a DVD perspective, a US version exists but I cannot find any details of contents. The US Blu-ray adds a commentary and deleted scenes. There is also a local Blu-ray version but I do not have that for review. If you want a DVD there is no reason not to buy the local version.

Summary

    A thought provoking and interesting financial drama/thriller.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The extras are decent without setting the world on fire.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Monday, April 15, 2013
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into amplifier. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationMarantz SR5005
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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