“Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer”

***1/2

(R: 1:57)

“Norman” is an unquestionably wonderful film braided together from many tones and moods. It blends finely nuanced, funny entertainment with serious moments that are biting without being cruel, poignant without seeming solemn. It has a deceptively throwaway feel, but at its core is a neat nugget of moral philosophy about loyalty.

Norman Oppenheimer is a late-in-life underachiever who will not give up. His business card defines him as a “consultant,” but that’s rather wishful. “Schemer” or “conniver” is more accurate.

Somewhere in his 70s, he’s searching for business world prestige, making a modest plug for himself with New York’s financial elite every chance. But in writer/director Joseph Cedar’s view, the 1 percent move in cunning, competitive chess strategies. Norman is a pawn at best.

As Norman, Richard Gere reveals unexpectedly subtle comic talents, playing the character with a deftly balanced mixture of tenderness and satire. His Norman is a good-hearted neurotic, fending and coping with life as best he can.

Seeking approval from the establishment, Norman enters every upscale gathering he can finagle his way into. Generous to a fault, he offers new acquaintances an introduction to power brokers he has never met with the mantra, “I’ll have to get the two of you together.” But he also needs to sneak home with the complimentary hors d’oeuvres.

Fate enters the story when he gives a costly gift to a midlevel Israeli politician (Lior Ashkenazi) who becomes a genuine friend and then a world leader. “For once in my life,” Norman says, “I bet on the right horse.” Suddenly the glamorous, cultured, moneyed New York opens its arms to Norman.

At the same time, an Israeli prosecutor begins delving into Norman’s way of winning friends and influencing people, which not only might be amoral and unethical, but illegal.

Cedar does admirable work, presenting the addictive vibe of upper-class entitlement with natural authority and twisting cynicism into heartstring-plucking humor. The film cheerfully illuminates some of the immature ways we all act, so it is serious but not depressing.

Norman, who would be a secondary character in most films, makes a fine antihero. We must gradually piece together whether he’s a benefactor reaching out to make true friends or a hustler landing on one steppingstone only long enough to launch himself toward the next. It’s a question that becomes increasingly suspenseful as the focus moves from social embarrassment to international diplomacy.