Arbitrage reminds me a lot of Michael Clayton. It’s a really fun and involving movie, with a tense and interesting story, good dialog, a charismatic star giving a better-than-normal performance in the lead role, very strong supporting actors (both their casting and their performances,) and a satisfying anti-rich / anti-corporate social message. My wife and I enjoyed it immensely. For some reason, I feel compelled to compare the two movies in this review.

Michael Clayton out-shines Arbitrage in two main areas: the snappy freshness and voluminousness of the dialog (which is key to its marvelous set-up,) and the amazing presence and acting skill of Tom Wilkinson. The problem with Michael Clayton is that Tom Wilkinson dies half way through the movie, and the film’s emphasis on extended scenes of dialog starts to recede at around the same time. It’s not that Michael Clayton is not fun all the way through – it’s a blast. But in its first half the content and rhythm of the dialog and the performance of Wilkinson are so riveting and thrilling, seemly suggesting almost limitless possibilities, that once those elements fade, and the film narrows its focus to resolving its fairly straightforward main story line, there is a noticeable drop in artistic intensity and depth. Consider how unfortunately rushed and perfunctory the denouement is in Michael Clayton, or how compressed its last half hour feels. It pains me to say it, but in the final analysis that film largely squandered its marvelous set-up.

Arbitrage, on the other hand, is much more even in quality. While Michael Clayton starts fast and with great panache, only to dull in the second half, Arbitrage starts slow and gets better and better, all the way to the very end. Its dialog might not be as spectacular as the first half of Michael Clayton, but its dialog is very good nonetheless. Richard Gere transcends his normal acting-self to a much greater extent than did George Clooney. True, there is no Tom Wilkinson in Arbitrage, but it does have Brit Marling, who with this role is now approaching my pantheon of elite actresses (Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron, Vera Farmiga, and a few others.)  In her small supporting role, she is just outstanding. I can’t say enough about how natural and effortless she is on screen, and what supremely easy emotional range she has. She takes Richard Gere’s acting to a whole other level in their incredible confrontation scene in the park, but really she makes every scene she is in special.

Arbitrage also has a more complete and realistic story arc. Where Michael Clayton was not quite believable in the end, and its flashy dialog masked a few clunky plot elements, Arbitrage seems totally and depressingly real. It’s a quite fascinating portrait of the rich and powerful, contrasting the rules they play by versus the rules we normal people abide by, and walking (with marvelous skill) the line we all feel between admiration of these pricks and revulsion at how they screw over everyone in their path in the name of money. Like Michael Clayton, Arbitrage too has spectacular individual scenes, but they are so low-key and unadorned they are almost un-movie-like, especially the ones that feature Brit Marling. And the unexpected character development of the wife (played by Susan Sarandon) really adds wonderful depth to the story as it proceeds.

Arbitrage is easily one of the best films of 2012. I will definitely be watching it again at some point. Don’t miss it!