You might think “Arbitrage” is a staid affair, one more film about financial shenanigans in a long line of them — each one about men with expensive suits and bankrupt morals, about buying low and selling high, about the money, money, money.
Well, it is about all those things. But as Richard Gere put it to MTV News before the movie’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, it’s also about “the cocaine rush” of success. He’s not kidding. Gere plays Robert Miller, a billionaire hedge fund manager who seemingly has the perfect life, the perfect family, even the perfect mistress. That is, until he turns 60 and the fact that he’s been running a massively fraudulent empire is about to be exposed.
If this all sounds a bit familiar, that’s no mistake. “You just need to know Bernie Madoff and Teddy Kennedy,” Gere said. “That's all you need to know.”
“He's never had any failures,” he added. “It's all success. It's all adrenaline, cocaine rush of success.”
If you say so, Mr. Gere. Which leads us to wonder, did the actor go method for the role, engaging in some of these drug-fueled escapades to portray Miller?
"My whole life has been that, so it's very easy for me [to play],” he cracked. “I didn't have to think about that!”
Did we mention that Richard Gere is awesome? While we’re at it, we’ll also mention that “Arbitrage” premiered on a snowy Saturday in Park City, UT to positive reviews and suggestions that the film has strong commercial potential. For Gere, who’s making his maiden Sundance voyage, it’s almost as if, in the mountains of Utah, he’s never had a failure.
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is officially under way, and the MTV Movies team is on the ground reporting on the hottest stars and the movies everyone will be talking about in the year to come. Keep it locked with MTV Movies for everything there is to know about Sundance.
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