eddie_baggins At a stage in his career, Hollywood heartthrob Richard Gere was one of the industry's most recognisable leading men.Roles in notable films like Days of Heaven, American Gigolo, An Officer and a Gentleman then key performances in 90's hits like Pretty Woman, First Knight, Primal Fear and Runaway Bride established Gere in the big time, only for the 2000's to be a relatively uneventful period for the famous actor.While having the odd sprinkling of decent films in the last 17 or so years, Joseph Cedar's Norman provides Gere with what's arguably the now near 70 year old actor with one of the roles of his longstanding career.Far from a huge hit, Norman is however one of those carefully constructed character studies that finds Gere playing New York City fixer (aka shyster) Norman Oppenheimer, a tragically determined "business operator/middleman" that finds himself in over his head after a chance meeting with a down on his luck politician turned Israeli prime minister Micha Eshel.It's an intimate film, one in which Gere appears in almost every scene and Gere owns his character, that is in many ways a deplorable wannabe big city player but also a character that remains endearing right till the films effective finale.Surrounded by recognisable co-stars Dan Stevens, Steve Buscemi, Michael Sheen and Charlotte Gainsbourg, Norman is absolutely Gere's film.At times in amongst an unnecessarily convoluted and complicated film, Gere holds his head up high in a role that would've seemed impossible for the actor in the peak of his 80/90 heydays and as Norman's life continues to spiral out of control and a new found sense of self-worth and importance creeps into his livelihood as a fixer and connector, Gere controls his performance in a film that doesn't quite match it with its leading man.Final Say – A unique experience and one that remains consistently engaging thanks purely to Gere's awards worthy turn, Norman is a small-scale character study of a man who's lost his sense of purpose in the world, only to find it again in the most unlikely of circumstances, making Norman a must-see for fans of character driven dramas and Gere aficionados.3 awkward dinner parties out of 5

adonis98-743-186503 Norman Oppenheimer is a small time operator who befriends a young politician at a low point in his life. Three years later, when the politician becomes an influential world leader, Norman's life dramatically changes for better and worse. The Cast of Norman is very talented and the actors try their best but the film is uninteresting and so boring it literally fried my brain. It's one of those awful movies where critics say that it's amazing or something but it's truly slow paced and just boring and it's not interesting from start to finish, the characters are one dimensional. If you're into dumb films that are slow and basically like to loose 2 hours of your life go ahead it's that kind of movie.

MisterWhiplash Talk about a little-under-the-radar wonder! The trailer for Norman (or: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer as its full title tells us what will occur) seems like this will be a sort of comic take on what one might've seen in Michael Clayton - or, as it becomes more apparent as time goes on in the movie (and by time I mean a few minutes) Better Call Saul's Jimmy - that this is a 'fixer', or a guy who will do what needs/must/wants to be done by any given businessman or individual or, as the Norman Oppenheimer (Gere) of the title suggests, other consultants who consult the consultants (as he is). It turns out to have some laughs here and there, but really this is a drama and one of almost (or just) Talmudic proportions. This is a story set in New York City but also concerns Israeli politics (up to a point, sort of, just deep enough for us to know that "peace" is possible somehow due to this one guy, Micha Eschel (Lio Ashkenazi), who manages to ascend to prime minister of the country and who Norman is considered a "close friend". Or, really, almost a close friend, as Micha trusts him while his other advisers don't; they met under circumstances that Norman basically, literally, chased down, following Micha when he was an assistant to an assistant to the PM, and bought him a pair of ludicrously expensive shoes. For the moment of grimacing Norman has ends up paying off for him a mountain of connections, which is what he's all about... though it's not all on the up and up exactly.This is a story that concerns how Norman, as well as the other characters, try to act (or decidedly don't act) moral or even fair in the circumstances. For Norman, it's all about first getting this one connection with Micha, and once he gets it, it seems like it should be all gravy. But Norman is also as Jewish people say a "Macha", someone who can run a big game through talk but may not be the most trustworthy person. Like with 'Saul', it's hard for us not to feel in Norman's corner because of how much of a hustler he is, and movie characters like this have an innate sympathy: despite the shady ways (or even because of it, that they're on the edge, an underdog, at worst an anti-hero), we want Norman to be the best of the "Normans" out there. And then comes the Jewish Synagogue and Steve Buscemi's Rabbi (yes, he's a Rabbi, and it's awesome), and things take more twists and turns.Joseph Cedar's script is sharp as a tack, but I was also impressed by the visual side of the film; Norman's on a train coming back from a DC event at one point and we see lots and lots of heads floating in the window of the moving train, and it's amazing how he is able to manage this sequence that could've been out of Capra or something (maybe a cinematic forefather of this sort of morality fable). And at the heart of it is Gere as Norman, making him so vital and amusing at times, but then also so sympathetic and sad and going across all the emotions that's necessary - and then some! If you've wondered where Gere's been for a while, there's the Dinner and then there's this. The latter is among his top, top performances of all time.Add on a wonderfully ambiguous ending and a thrilling final act, and you got a sleeper, buddy.

admcdonough This is a really good film. It explores the inner motivations of people and everyone is not necessarily what they seem in this movie just as in real life. All of the characters in the film have their good points and bad points just as people do in real life. Your first reaction on meeting Norman himself is to dislike him as being just a struggling con artist. But very quickly you also start to develop empathy for him and actually even start rooting for him. I won't spoil the movie by giving away the ending except to say that for the first hour and a half you really don't know where everything is leading, but in the last half hour you will probably anticipate where it is going and what is going to happen next and ultimately the ending. All of the performances are top rate, but a special shout out to Richard Gere as Norman. He has been underrated for years since I think many people just think anyone that good looking can't be a good actor. And even now in his 60's he's still a really good looking man. But this performance was great with him hitting every note yet employing subtlety as he does it. Oscars nominations and wins are generally a result of promotion and politics nowadays, so you never know how or why someone gets nominated, but this was an Oscar nomination worthy performance by Gere.