Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016)

Directed by: Joseph Cedar | 113 minutes | drama, thriller | Actors: Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Michael Sheen, Steve Buscemi, Yehuda Almagor, Neta Riskin, Josh Charles, Dan Stevens, Harris Yulin, Doval’e Glickman, Tali Sharon, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Isaach De Bankolé, Miranda Bailey

He mixes with wealthy New Yorkers of Jewish descent and makes an extremely lonely impression. Richard Gere is Norman Oppenheimer, a self-made networker who goes to conferences and parties, but might as well be a bum in a smart suit. What exactly his goal is, apart from dining with the rich who want little of him, is not yet clear to us. The widower Oppenheimer is a sympathetic underdog, in ‘Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer’, the first English-language film by Israeli Joseph Cedar (‘Footnote’).

The film has a stylish, un-American slowness, but it can’t be called European either. That’s because of Gere and the New York setting. Gere gives the film a swing, with Steve Buscemi and Charlotte Gainsbourg (with curls) in minor roles and Lior Ashkenazi (‘Footnote’) as the energetic candidate for Prime Minister of Israel. The two men accidentally come into contact, and Norman thinks he can close an important deal through this Micha Eshel. Long remains vague and it seems uninteresting, but just like in ‘Footnote’ Cedar is about dilemmas in relationships, not so much about plot.

That does not seem to be his strongest point, especially in the transitions between film parts. Loneliness, however, plays an important role in ‘Norman’. Oppenheimer and Eshel kind of become friends; Oppenheimer because he has no one and seeks the spotlight, Eshel because power seems to cut him off from true friendships. Or because he needs a confidant in the US? Either way, it creates a bond. This fact, plus the acting performances of the refined Ashkenazi and the shimmering Gere, make ‘Norman’ somewhat contrived.