118 minute running time so at least 18 to 28 minutes too long. A weird one, I fast forwarded from 20 minutes in. Casting a gentile like Richard Gere (a Methodist who converted to Buddhism no less) to play someone named Norman Oppenheimer is nearly as mysterious as casting Steve Buscemi as a rabbi. Anyway, that aside, it is a sad story, the tragic end is not an understatement.

The Jewish macher as someone lovable ... (macher from maker, a person who gets things done, but it does have the negative connotation of "fixer") ... he's not shady so much as he is a cipher ... a nobody desperately trying to be somebody ... these are sad ideas. Maybe if it had been 90 minutes long, I could have watched it at normal speed and enjoyed it, but no, it's overly long. Yellow rating.