Repetitious and overlong, Sinister (2012) finds an increasingly low-voiced Ethan Hawke pitted against Mr. Boogie (no, that's not the name of a 1975 T. Rex album) in a horror film that has its share of jolts but is never really as scary as you want it to be. Which is a shame because there is a kernel of a great idea here, with Hawke (as compelling as ever) as a devoted true crime writer who puts his family in jeopardy when he moves them into the house where an entire family, save a little girl, was murdered. The best scenes in Scott Derrickson's film are the ones in which Hawke and his wife (stage actress Juliet Rylance) combatively argue about his obsession with his work at the expense of his family. The rest of the underpopulated film largely consists of Hawke watching eerie Super-8 home footage and wandering around his always-dark home, following strange noises. Store this one away as a letdown.
*
Arbitrage (2012), writer-director Nicholas Jarecki's feature-film debut, has Richard Gere as a Bernie Madoff-like hedge fund magnate whose financial scams are the least of his problems after the car he is driving with his mistress crashes, killing her. The life he has so carefully built up and manicured begins to crumble and the only person he can turn to is a young African-American (nicely played by Nate Parker) who is on his payroll and can help him out of tight jams. Gere really knocks it out of the park here - who else can make you love such clean-cut, crisp phoniness like he can? Susan Sarandon is his socialite wife, Brit Marling is excellent as his daughter (groomed to take over the business, but unaware of her dad's double-dealings), and Tim Roth, with New York accent, is the dogged, slouching detective honing in on Gere. Talky at times - full of business argot - but generally absorbing.
*
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