Following premieres at Telluride then TIFF, a new trailer has landed for Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, a rather vivid explanation of the proceedings. Penned and directed by Footnote helmer Joseph Cedar, the Sony Classics release stars Richard Gere as the titular fixer, centering on… well, I mean, it’s all in the title.
Specifically, the story finds Norman after he befriends a politician at a lowpoint in his life, then the decision comes back to haunt him three years later when that man becomes a world leader. With a packed cast including Dan Stevens, Michael Sheen, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Steve Buscemi, Norman could be a darkly comedic thriller with some bite. See the trailer below, along with a new poster.
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.
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer hits theaters on April 14th.