By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Nicholas Jarecki
Starring: Brit Marling | Laetia Casta | Nate Parker | Richard Gere | Stuart Margolin | Susan Sarandon | Tim Roth
Country: united_states
Year: 2012
Running time: 107
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764183/
Chris says: “When you have a lead character whose actions are as extremely despicable as those of Robert Miller, you need an actor so rakishly charming as to avoid alienating your audience. Aging like fine cheese, silver-haired Richard Gere nearly pulls it off; I can’t think of another actor who could come as close (possibly George Clooney). Miller’s a hedge fund magnate/Bernie Madoff-like figure who not only cheats his clients but also cheats on his wife (Susan Sarandon) and lies to his daughter (and employee), Brooke (Brit Marling), and that’s small potatoes compared to what happens to his mistress, Julie (Laetitia Casta) following an accident he causes. While Robert never seems capable of redemption, Gere portrays him as neither a monster nor a saint. While he’s undoubtedly selfish and seriously morally flawed, he allows you to comprehend some (if not all) of the reasons behind his actions; he’s also not without a hint of conscience or empathy for those facing grave consequences because of them.
“Although entertaining and briskly paced, the film is frustratingly surface-level—it doesn’t sufficiently explore just how those consequences would ever play out in the long term. As his crimes pile up, the effect is like Robert’s spinning an ever-increasing stack of plates: it’s often a gas to watch him try to keep them all in the air, especially as he faces off against an overconfident detective (Tim Roth, in a type of colorful supporting role he’s always excelled at and should do more often) and, one by one, his inner circle begins to turn on him (or find him out). However, the final scene sells the film short, leaving us with a man still on the verge of his comeuppance. We’re meant to simply stare at him aghast for the respect he earns from an audience that has no knowledge of his ugly underneath. It’s a letdown that we never get to see how a comeuppance would affect him, what he’d be capable of once the stakes became truly high and irreparable. 3 cats”