Arbitrage (2012)

Richard Gere: Robert Miller

Photos 

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Maria Bartiromo : But you took a huge bet on the housing crisis in the middle of the biggest boom in housing anybody has ever seen. Why?

  Robert Miller : I'm a child of the '50s. My father welded steel for the Navy, and my mother worked at the V.A. They lived through the Depression, Pearl Harbor, and the bomb. They didn't think that bad things might happen. They knew that bad things would happen.

  Maria Bartiromo : Is that what's happening now?

  Robert Miller : When I was a kid, my favorite teacher was Mr. James. Mr. James said world events all revolve around five things. M - O - N - E - Y.

• Ellen Miller : It's all going to be fine. It always is. Just follow the plan.

  Robert Miller : And what is that plan?

  Ellen Miller : Confidence equals contract.

  Robert Miller : You sound like a fortune cookie.

  Ellen Miller : They are your words, actually.

  Robert Miller : Then you married an idiot.

• Robert Miller : This is a trust, in your name, assets of two million dollars. Take a look at that.

  Jimmy Grant : Are you serious? You think money's gonna fix this? Huh?

  Robert Miller : What else is there?

• Syd Felder : What's baffling to me, despite your sentimental history together, is why you would put your family's future in this kid's hands.

  Robert Miller : He's not like us.

  Syd Felder : Is that a good thing?

• Ellen Miller : You broke our little girl's heart.

  Robert Miller : That's how it all works, Ellen. You know that.

  Ellen Miller : I know, but she didn't.

  Robert Miller : She'll be better for it. The world is cold.

  Ellen Miller : Then you're gonna need a warm coat.

• Robert Miller : What you did is way beyond the money.

  Jimmy Grant : Nothing is beyond money for you, Robert. We both know that.

• Robert Miller : I made a bad bet.

  Brooke Miller : No, you committed fraud.

  Robert Miller : That's a dangerous word, Brooke.

  Brooke Miller : What would you prefer? That you cheated? That you stole money from people who trusted you? That you lied? That you lied right to my face? Why?

  Robert Miller : Because we were going broke! Everything was finished. We'd have nothing.

  Brooke Miller : How. How does that happen?

  Robert Miller : You remember Alexanderov? Well he came to see me one day last year. He said Robert, we've got a great opportunity- there's a copper mine, it's in Russia, it's under- exploited- there's billions under the ground, and to get it out, all we need is a couple hundred million, you put in a hundred, we'll put in a hundred- we'll triple it all in six months. So, I go check it out. And the geological survey's right, friendly government. And to lock it in, you hedge it, right? Sell the copper ahead on the commodities exchange and it all works, it's fine, and you're making a fortune. But then there's something I hadn't accounted for-- variation margin-- and that friendly Russian government all of a sudden not so friendly anymore and they're blocking the export of the copper so I gotta make it up, I gotta put the cash in to cover the hedge. But I'm not worried about it because it's still springing money, there's so much money coming out of the ground you can't believe. You can't stop it. And, yes, I'm the oracle, I've done housing, I've arb'd credit swaps, I have done it all, and yes, again, I know it's outside the charter, but it is Fucking minting money! It's a license to print money! For everybody! Forever! It is god!...

  Brooke Miller : Until...

  Robert Miller : Until it's not... The money's trapped. You can't get it out. Probably never will. It's like a plane crash. It just happens.

• Robert Miller : But this is something we've seen over and over again. Time and time again. The competition for this limited amount of dollars out there can make the best of us manic. So it's not surprising that we have these asset bubbles. But when reality sets in, of course, they burst.