SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Prismark10 Richard Gere continues his recent run of shady people which allows him to give another freewheelin performance of a man on the edge of something.Here Gere plays Norman, a veteran fixer in the Jewish business community. He is marginalised, still searching for that big break.Norman makes an acquaintance of a minor Israeli politician Micha Eshel on a trade visit to New York. Norman buys him a pair of shoes, three years later Eshel becomes Prime Minister of Israel and on a visit to the USA, he greets Norman like an old friend.The publicity opens doors for Norman in New York as he uses his connections with Eshel to further himself and various associates in the community. Trouble looms as Eshel is embroiled in a bribes scandal and Norman unwittingly realises late in the day that his big mouth has caused all the trouble.The film directed by Joseph Cedar is slow to take off. He paints Norman as a loser, a verbose bull artist who embellishes the truth because he just wants to feel important about himself rather than financially benefit himself. Gere again laps up a part like Norman, now aged he feels freed from the shackles of being a rom com sex symbol.

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.

Harrison Tweed (Top Dawg) Washed up older white collar hustler dabs with politics = slow, political b.s. and very pointless, and I do mean pointless. I was hoping for some big climax, and granted I got some interesting story line towards the last 20 mins of this film, but not worth the wait. I considered giving up watching this to the end at least 4x since the start. The almost 2 hours of this film needed to be edited down to 1:20 mins.I still gave it a 5/10 only due to the outstanding performances by Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Michael Sheen and Steve Buscemi as the Rabbi, who really wasn't meant for this role. Every time I see him, I expect comedy, and this wasn't his character.The ending was bittersweet, but the build up towards it was very slow and dragged out. If you're into politics, especially Israel/USA issues, and like the scenery of NYC, then you may find this more enjoyable.Only the characters barely held my attention.It's barely a 5/10 from me.