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Parents' Guide to

Arbitrage

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Intelligent, grown-up thriller has some violence, drugs.

Movie R 2012 100 minutes
Arbitrage Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 14+

Based on 1 parent review

age 14+

Amazing Movie, Great for teens.

It is a little violent, but it has a great story. I think most teens should be able to handle this amazing thriller. I saw it with my two sons, one is 14, the other is 17 and both of them really enjoyed it. The review above is incorrect since there is virtually no sex other than implied sex.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Writer/director Nicholas Jarecki makes his feature debut with this refreshing movie, a combination of intelligent, grown-up writing and entertaining, audience-pleasing filmmaking. ARBITRAGE focuses on well-drawn, mature characters making emotionally truthful decisions, but at the same time, they face some very tense, larger-than-life situations. Oddly, most of the scenes are built around character interactions; there are only a handful of "thrill" moments.

This allows for very intense, focused performances, especially by Gere as the tormented lead, but also by Sarandon as his wise wife. Up-and-comer Marling has a few powerful scenes with Gere, challenging his authority, and Roth is relentless and ferocious as the detective. The movie's main drawback, however, is that it feels like it could have gone further in either direction; it might have benefited from either more depth or more thrills.

Movie Details

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