Richard Gere was present at the Emirates Palace for the premiere of his latest movie, Arbitrage, which is also showing at cinemas across the UAE.
The country’s who’s who showed up in their designer suits, cocktail dresses, evening gowns and high heels — clutching their golden tickets — for a taste of the red-carpet glamour.
While, Ali Al Jaberi, president of ADFF, opened the screening by saying he’s happy to be part of the sixth edition of the festival, Arbitrage producer Mohammed Al Turki expressed his joy in bringing a taste of Hollywood to the UAE. “I am just a regular guy,” said Al Turki. “I never thought I’d really be making Hollywood movies. But I went after my dream and made it happen”.
Director Nicholas Jarecki’s speech raised quite a few laughs in the audience. “I’m overwhelmed with emotion,” Jarecki said in broken, accented Arabic. “I can’t say how happy I am”.
Gere was the final speaker, ending with his special version of the word “Shukran” (thank you, in Arabic).
Arbitrage captivates viewers, with a glimpse of the life of business magnates who earn fortunes off Wall Street. The plot revolves around a tycoon, Robert Miller (Gere), who runs his own business with the assistance of his son and daughter. While Miller appears to exemplify success in terms of family and business, his real life is nowhere close to that. During a road trip, Miller crashes the car, killing his mistress and walking away with some bruises. Trouble erupts when he calls a friend to pick him up. Before he knows it, the police are all over the case, and Miller is a suspect. Outside his personal life, work is not going well either after an unfortunate investment.
The movie depicts the underhandedness of business — hiding of losses, manipulating evidence and the mind games that people play to make everything happen. Spoiler alert! The movie is also one of the few in which the culprit gets away with crime, as Miller, with his intelligence and attention to detail, seems to make things work pretty well.
Following the screening, Emirates Palace hosted a party for the viewers.
It doesn’t get more glamorous than that.
