The Benefactor

Has Richard Gere been hitting the bong? Of course not, but why else star in this borderline ridiculous drama as eccentric dope-smoking philanthropist Franny – a man with a dark secret and a lion’s mane of white hair that makes him look like a stoned Santa? Five years after the death of his oldest friends – a husband and wife couple – in a car accident, Franny swoops into the life of their pregnant daughter Olivia (Dakota Fanning) and her doctor husband Luke (Theo James) like a lottery win.

Without asking, he impulsively buys them a house and wangles Luke a job in a hospital he’s built. Is there something creepy about Franny’s aggressive generosity and need to be needed? In a film with a better script, yes. But this one has preposterous lines like: ‘Your job is to cure kids, mine is to make them feel better.’ And poor Dakota Fanning. Her role entirely consists of anxiously rubbing her prosthetic baby bump.