Richard Gere plays a Wall Street tycoon, Robert Miller, worth billions. At least that is what appears to be true. The truth is he is hiding 400 million in debt that if revealed would show his company to be worthless. He is selling his investment fund company based on falsified values in order to avoid having his empire collapse. His daughter Brooke Miller (played by Brit Marling) works for him at his firm as the CFO. Even she does not know about the fraud. He has both a wife Ellen (played by Susan Sarandon) and a high-priced mistress Julie Côte (played by Laetitia Casta) which he keeps as well.
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While driving late at night with his mistress, he falls asleep at the wheel and crashes the car. He walks away from the crash, only injured, but his mistress Julie is killed. Rather than call for help using his cell phone, he walks to a pay phone. He calls Jimmy Grant (played by Nate Parker) a criminal who he helped in the past that owes him a favor. Jimmy comes to get him to take him back home so he can deny being involved in the crash.
He gets home around 4:30 a.m., noticeably injured, which is observed by his wife, but she is used to his being out with his mistress as she is the perfect corporate trophy wife. He covers up his injuries to make sure no one suspects him of anything. A police detective Michael Bryer (played by Tim Roth) shows up to question him. Det. Bryer feels certain that Miller was involved in the accident, but he only has circumstantial evidence and no real proof. They arrest Jimmy instead. Jimmy refuses to rat out Miller. Miller succeeds in getting the case against Jimmy dismissed by proving that Det. Bryer fabricated evidence. Miller's daughter figures out the fraud but also realizes that she could be implicated if the truth comes out so she keeps silent. Miller's wife tries to blackmail him but she fails as well and Miller succeeds in selling his company so he comes out on top.
Best part of story, including ending:
I hate that the rich guy gets away with murder, even though I like the movie about it, because the story is so suspenseful.
Best scene in story:
When Miller is at an awards banquet and he is all smiles and fakery. It is easy to see how he gets away with it because he is so polished.
Opinion about the main character:
It is amazing that we actually like Miller for some strange reason and we want him to get away with it. This is because the actor Richard Gere does such an excellent job of making the bad guy so likeable.
