Time out of Mind

Richard Gere sheds all traces of Hollywood glamour to portray a homeless man negotiating the public assistance system in New York, while tentatively reconnecting with estranged daughter Jena Malone in this documentary-influenced drama. At first it's a stretch to accept the debonair star of Pretty Woman in such surroundings, but a drawn, slightly flabby Gere soon disappears into the role of an isolated, long-term alcoholic struggling to accept that he's reached his lowest ebb. Director Oren Moverman's often distant camera effectively visualises how such marginalised individuals pass unnoticed in big-city crowds, and while the film's deliberate pace and minimal plotting may prove testing for some viewers, it does convey the everyday grind faced by those on the streets. Ultimately though, as Gere opens up to washed-up musician Ben Vereen, it's a drama about the struggle for self-respect in the most parlous of circumstances, providing an ultimately convincing and affecting glimpse into a situation that few will ever face by choice.