Norman Oppenheimer, played by an uncharacteristically schleppy but pitch-perfect Richard Gere, lives a lonely life on the margins of New York City power and money. He is a wannabe financial operator whose cockeyed schemes to make billions never pan out. One day Norman meets the charismatic Israeli politician Micha Eshel (Lior Ashkenazi), who gives him a ridiculously expensive gift. Three years later, Eshel becomes Israel’s prime minister and Norman’s life dramatically changes, as everyone—including the local rabbi (Steve Buscemi), a mogul (Harris Yulin), and Norman’s nephew (Michael Sheen)—want to make a deal with him. Needless to say, his kaleidoscopic plans go awry. Academy Award–nominated director Joseph Cedar’s (Footnote) latest is an entertaining drama-comedy about a little man whose essential weakness is rooted in a frailty that’s easy to forgive—the need to matter.

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