Considering the sheer number of films that come to fall festivals, some can fall between the cracks — especially if they aren’t getting released in the next few months. One such example is Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, which comes from director Joseph Cedar (Footnote, Beaufort), and premiered at Telluride then stopped by Toronto. With Sony Pictures Classics picking it up for a release this spring, it’s now back on our radar thanks to the arrival of the first trailer.
Led by Richard Gere, the story follows his pushy character as he gets entangled in various business schemes in New York City — quite a different role from his previous film set in the city, Time Out of Mind. Check out the trailer below for the film also starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Josh Charles, Michael Sheen, Lior Ashkenazi, Dan Stevens, Steve Buscemi and Hank Azaria.
Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) lives a lonely life in the margins of New York City power and money, a would-be operator dreaming up financial schemes that never come to fruition. As he has nothing real to offer, Norman strives to be everyone’s friend, but his incessant networking leads him nowhere.
Always on the lookout for someone willing to pay attention to him, Norman sets his sights on Micha Eshel (Lior Ashkenazi), a charismatic Israeli politician alone in New York at a low point in his career. Sensing Eshel’s vulnerability, Norman reaches out with a gift of a very expensive pair of shoes, a gesture that deeply touches Eshel. When Eshel becomes Prime Minister three years later, he remembers.
With his very real connection to the leader of a major nation, Norman is awash in the respect he has always craved. Flush with his newfound feeling of success, Norman attempts to use Eshel’s name to leverage his biggest deal ever: a series of quid pro quo transactions linking the Prime Minister to Norman’s nephew (Michael Sheen), a rabbi (Steve Buscemi), a mogul (Harris Yulin), his assistant (Dan Stevens), and a treasury official from the Ivory Coast. Norman’s kaleidoscopic plans soon go awry, creating the potential for an international catastrophe he must struggle to prevent.
The new film by Academy Award® nominated director Joseph Cedar (FOOTNOTE) is a comic and compassionate drama of a little man whose downfall is rooted in a human frailty all too easy to forgive—a need to matter.
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer opens this spring.