Best movie ever!

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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.

Watched two names this evening - "Wilson" & "Norman". Both showed exaggeration, humor & satire to showcase characters. In "Wilson" Harrelson continues to improve these past few years in conveying unique & interesting characters. But, this is about "Norman" & Gere in that role. The first unusual aspect to this largely Jewish supported film is the recognition that Palestinians from an educated, objective & ethical pov deserve the freedom of their own land. Second, that connections and then money determine much more the direction of political actions than is often acknowledged. Third, kudos to the writer/director in bringing us a unique split screen pairing of characters. Smooth, and not disruptive to the flow of the film; captivating way to show communication between characters. Fourth, how our mysterious facilitator meets the youthful future. And, last you know that peanuts could possibly play a role in our closure. As an aside this is one of the rare films out of NY that didn't follow dumb formula (e.g. rom-com) storyline. It was actually funny- intelligent.

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.

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.