Report Card---"Arbitrage"

"Arbitrage" is a nifty little movie.
Certainly not worthy of any awards, as the various awards givers have indicated.
It stars Richard Gere, and is the equivalent of a pretty good two-part "Law and Order: Criminal Intent", which I was a major fan of.
Except that it's primarily from the villain's point of view, and the cop is more corrupt and not nearly as savvy as the Detectives on L&O, CI.

On to the scoring:

Is it interesting?

Sure. Gere is a well turned out Bernie Madoff.
And the story has some nice twists.
A.

Compelling even?

Almost.
B+.

Is it controversial?

Not really.
C.

Is it a story worth telling?

I don't see why not.
B+.

Is it good storytelling?

I suppose.
B+.

Is it well written?

Pretty well written. As well-written as L&O CI. No better, no worse.
B+.

Is it well cast? Well played?, Well shot?

Gere is not at all likeable. Probably neither was Bernie Madoff.
But being likeable was Gere's job. As it was Madoff's.
C-.

Is it too long? Too short?

It moves along briskly.
A.

Is it believable? Do you care about the characters?

It is believeable, but I really didn't care about the characters.
C.

Is it predictable? Does it surprise you?

No, and the ending is a bit ambiguous, but it's there to be figured out.
C.

Do you think about it after you've seen it?

No.
D.

Is it funny?

No.
D.

Would it have been worth the thirteen bucks it would have cost to see it in the movies?

Not to me.
F.

Is it impressive ?

Hard to call it that, although the pacing was very effective.
B.

Overall grade: B.

See it when it's on Pay Cable.

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