This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Richard Gere Convincing as Schemer in Norman

Rated R

You hear his voice first, a slightly hardened New York twang, cheerfully scheming on some deal in which “everybody wins.” Richard Gere, playing Norman Oppenheimer, a fixer, is initially goofy-looking with his usually shiny silver hair flattened underneath an Irish cap and his ears sticking out. He ceases to be striking as he appears in most films, such as his early Pretty Woman, or more recently in The Dinner.

Norman is an irritating manipulator without a moral compass who stalks and wears down his targets until they relent. He doesn’t seem to have a home or to sleep as he constantly roams the streets on the phone, talking and convincing. He connects people so that they can make deals, but no one can quite figure out how they know him or his importance, although he claims everyone as a friend to further his agenda. Gere doesn’t over-try to inhabit Norman, but rather lets his character speak gracelessly for himself in a convincing narrative.

Since the full title is Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, his short-lived success and his failings are no surprise. The real surprises appear in how Norman deals with rebuffs, betrayal, and humiliation.

“You’re like a drowning man waving at an ocean liner,” one character tells him.

“But I’m a good swimmer,” he insists, “as long as my head is above water.”

Norman keeps swimming even when his “relationship” with an Israeli politician who becomes Prime Minister, played by the wonderful actor Lior Ashkenazi (Footnote, Big Bad Wolves), starts to unravel, but his segue into Micha Eshel’s world is simple. Norman buys him “the most expensive pair of shoes in New York.” Eshel becomes indebted, as do others for whom Norman gives favors, such as Rabbi Blumenthal, played winningly by Steve Buscemi (TV’s Portlandia, Boardwalk Empire). In Norman, the accomplished actor grabs hold of a more straight forward, level-headed character than he usually portrays.

Norman’s quasi-friend, Philip Cohen, played by Michael Sheen (Midnight in Paris, TV’s Masters of Sex) tries to dissuade Norman from sinking deeper into the mire of his connections, but Norman is determined. He truly is what he does.

Born in New York and raised in Israeli, director/writer Joseph Cedar (Footnote, Beaufort) keeps the four acts of the film crisp and vital, which is a feat, since the interactions can become confusing. At times, he has characters talk into the camera in split-second pop ups to enlarge the tension, and often uses a divided screen to vary the communications among them. He also uses close-ups, liberally. In one scene, to emphasize Norman’s rootlessness, he closes in on his hands taking a meal of crackers and herring in the Rabbi’s synagogue.

Near the end, Norman’s face becomes flushed and mottled. Gere reins in Norman’s growing sense that he is in deep trouble, but instead reveals it all on his face. This non-hero without a visible home thrives to fix the lives of others, unnoticed, except for Hank Azaria’s (TV’s Ray Donovan, The Simpsons) character, Srul Katz, a would-be fixer who mimics Norman’s style. Norman is not a likable person, nor is he self-aware, but he is driven by his manipulations, and simply not able to protect himself from the obvious pitfalls of his offbeat life’s work.

Wanted: Your Opinion (In 10 Words or Fewer)

We’re always looking for the community’s input—and now we’re offering you a chance to share your opinion of the latest blockbusters, foreign films, indies, and romantic comedies to hit the big screen with your neighbors! Each week, we’ll print the best reader-submitted reviews in the Living section and online at www.zip06.com. Send your 10-word movie review to Living Editor Pem McNerney at p.mcnerney@shorepublishing.com along with your name and hometown and join the conversation!