Film Review – The Benefactor

After portraying a reserved, humbled homeless man in last autumn’s “Time Out of Mind,” Richard Gere takes on a different, more loquacious type of pain in “The Benefactor.” Delivering an unusually amplified performance, Gere is the focal point for the drama, which shaves off significant turns of plot to lay low as a compelling character study. Making his feature-length debut is writer/director Andrew Renzi, and he delivers more than a few captivating moments here, wisely concentrating on Gere’s manic spirit to cover well-worn ground as the screenplay explores the savagery of addiction and abuses of power. It rarely makes a substantial impression, yet “The Benefactor” is alive, powered by a special nervous energy that can only emerge from Gere. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com