Gere is persuasive as a desperate New York ‘consultant’ in ‘Norman’

This week some strong, wryly unconventional work opens on a limited number of screens around the country, which means adults not particularly interested in “The Fate of the Furious” can re-enter a movie theater with confidence.

Topic A: “Norman,” a mordantly funny study in ambition, desperation, manipulation and luck from the writer- direc tor Joseph Cedar. Born in New York, working primarily in Israel, Cedar makes his English-language feature debut here. In the juicy role

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NIKO TAVERNISE / SONY PICTURES CLASSICS Richard Gere, left, is Norman Oppenheimer and Lior Ashkenazi plays Micha Eshel in the film, “Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer.”