RIP Norman Jewison

From Peter Bradshaw’s tribute in The Guardian:

Worrying about the “chemistry” of leading players has become a critical truism these days, but under Jewison’s shrewd direction, Cher and Cage had a Krakatoa-level of chemistry. It meant judging the exact amount of rueful comedy to go with the passion, but it also meant letting rip with the passion when that was the point. Romantic comedies very rarely have anything sexy about them, but when Cage angrily turns over Cher’s kitchen table and then they go to bed, Jewison brings the sizzle.

Maybe Norman Jewison himself was the fiddler on the roof of American cinema for 50 years, calling the tune, setting the rhythm, laying down the mood, but self-effacingly letting the main actors down on the ground get the attention and the glory. But what a virtuoso.

A couple of less-talked about, personal favourite moments from his movies:

Other People’s Money (1991)
  -‘Carmen will educate us’

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  - The Windmills of Your Mind