Norman (Richard Gere) is a fixer. He lives to connect people. He always claims to “know a guy.” He ingratiates. Sometimes he irritates.
When Israeli Foreign Minister Eshel visits New York, Norman buys him outrageously expensive shoes and cements a gold-star connection. When Eshel later becomes Israel’s Prime Minister a scandal develops, and Norman, accustomed to flailing on high society’s periphery, suddenly finds himself precariously occupying its center.
Writer-director Joseph Cedar, whose Beaufort and Footnote garnered Oscar nods, has crafts a mysterious character study while brilliantly capturing a cloistered milieu. Norman’s astonishing cast includes Michael Sheen, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Steve Buscemi, but it’s Gere, never better, who draws us close and keeps us guessing.