Not many times do we get to see the main character of a movie get away with murder, fraud, bribery, and adultery and still walk away with billiones and be the hero to hundreds. He sacrificed a lot but the whole time he was doing it for the greater good.
shareI loved that he made out in the end. What a player.
shareHe explained to his daughter that once he sells he'll only be able to keep his house. So, not poor, but certainly not billions.
shareWhat "greater good"? His little empire, based entirely on his ego, was the only thing he was trying to protect. What he said about his investors and his family was just window dressing. He was basically a sociopath.
share"and still walk away with billiones"
I have a bone to pick about this statement, the movie was vague about it and I don't expect people to pick it up (specially if they are watching this in a cinema). The guy was never a billionaire and he walked away with very little (relatively talking of course).
Size of fortune
Fact 1: Miller plainly says that the business returned 15.4% to day and then gives the exact figure in dollars: "approximately $583 million," that means that the total assets of the business is $3.766 billion. Usually the owner's capital is about 10% of total assets. So we can safely estimate that his personal fortune is approximately $366.
Fact 2: Miller tells his daughter that the loss would have lost their investors money. The way investment companies work the owner's capital must be wiped out before the investors take any losses. The loss seems to be $400 million, his capital must have been lower than that.
Fact 3: The bank paid $525 million for the business, that means the equity of the business must be less. He says that he was willing to take $400 million, so his capital must have been less than that.
Conclusion: The guy is worth about $400 million.
How much did walk away with
His wife made him sign-over all his fortune to charity, she claims that he must have some money put away. This of course contradicts what he said to his daughter. Anyway the movie seems to imply that he get away with a small fortune, but not Wall Street money (think $40 millions).
Personally, the guy got away with murder, literally. He cheated on his wife and the company that bought his company will later find they were defrauded - and will suffer for it. Engrossing film, outstanding performances by Richard and Susan but I don't like movies where the bad guys win in the end. (He has plenty of contacts to survive the divorce). They make me feel dirty and I further dislike the message it sends our youth.
shareWell in 2008 the bankers did get away with murder and they got bailed out on top of that and the youth know that very well, hence the Occupy Wall Street movement. What this guy got away with is nothing in comparison. I guess the youth are supposed to identify with the wife/daughter, but I felt that part was pandering by the writer/director I would have liked it better if the daughter was only concerned with herself and the wife took the money for herself.
shareHe didn't murder anyone, he only left the scene of an accident. He got away with murder, figuratively speaking!
shareYes, he didn't murder anyone. However, he could have been charged with negligent manslaughter according to the lawyer.
shareThat's reaching...
What did he do? He fell asleep and had an accident where one of his passengers was killed.
And since dead men tell no tales...in this case dead women...he could say a deer darted out in front of him and he swerved or it would have come through the windshield. He lost control and WHAMMO. Now, he wakes up discovers his lover is dead. He's in shock so he leaves the car to get some help. While walking away the car ignites and just then he realizes he could be in big trouble. He gets scared and decides not to report it.
What have we got him on? Leaving the scene of an accident? Failure to report an accident? The jury would take into account his initial shock and later fear and what would they do? Probably a fat fine, a slap on the wrist and a stern talking to by the judge. I mean he wasn't black right? Just kidding but what are they going to do with a rich and powerful white man in this situation?
I enjoyed the movie immensely and Gere is a great actor but, IMO, they were really reaching with the severity of his little accident, in the eyes of the law, anyway. The real problem was that his wife would know he was having an affair but even that wasn't written in stone.
Personally, the guy got away with murder, literally. He cheated on his wife and the company that bought his company will later find they were defrauded - and will suffer for it. Engrossing film, outstanding performances by Richard and Susan but I don't like movies where the bad guys win in the end. (He has plenty of contacts to survive the divorce). They make me feel dirty and I further dislike the message it sends our youth.
He didn't murder the girl, it was an accident. If he had called 911 they would have checked him for DUI and probably driven him home from the hospital. He just didn't want to get caught with a dead woman, not his wife.
The cops were way too aggressive in going after a fleeing the scene charge, which is a "victimless crime" of itself.
I saw it more as him accepting his comeuppance whilst allowing everyone else to get out. Initially he's dragging everyone else down with him and not really caring because he thinks it's all worth the risk, partially due to his delusions that everything will work out in the end. By the end he's allowed his wife, daughter and Jimmy to get out, but it looks like Miller is going to be caught out within the next few days. I'd like to think it does all crumble down on top of him in the end, and that he was just keeping up the pretense that everything was fine to allow for the deal to go through so that Brooke isn't affected (hence why he made the phonecall to his lawyer at the end to make sure him getting arrested won't effect the contract of the sale).
IMO, the charity dinner at the end is his final swan song of enjoying his old life before it's all destroyed for him (which to me is far more poignant than him getting away with everything scott free). The ending is pretty ambiguous though.
it looks like Miller is going to be caught out within the next few days.
But is the detective going to ignore his crime--and it is one, especially if he was impaired due to drinking (a few drinks can tip the balance in most states). His falling asleep or passing out at the wheel resulted in his passenger's death. He can not just declare her dead in his own mind and abandon her. He has a legal duty to call 911 and to not leave the scene of the accident. I agree that with the ending, we are not sure he is off the hook completely. The gala as a swan song is very perceptive.
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