Sommersby (1993)
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63% of critics liked it
(24 reviews) -
54% of users liked it
(13,283 ratings)
This Americanized remake of the French classic The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) transports the story's setting from the 16th century Gallic countryside to 19th century Tennessee at the conclusion of the U.S. Civil War. Richard Gere stars as Jack Sommersby, a wealthy landowner who returns to… More This Americanized remake of the French classic The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) transports the story's setting from the 16th century Gallic countryside to 19th century Tennessee at the conclusion of the U.S. Civil War. Richard Gere stars as Jack Sommersby, a wealthy landowner who returns to his small cotton farming town of Vine Hill three years after the Civil War's end. The defeated Confederate soldier is ready to resume his past life with his young wife Laurel (Jodie Foster). Thinking her husband long dead, however, Laurel has become engaged to Orin Meecham (Bill Pullman), an arrangement she quickly calls off, enraging and embittering Orin. Soon it becomes evident that his experiences have changed Jack thoroughly. A callous and cruel man widely feared before the war, he is now charming and sensitive, offering financial opportunities to an ex-slave and caring for Laurel and his young son. Jack even persuades the town's citizenry that he can rescue their fortunes by pooling resources and switching Vine Hill's chief crop from cotton to tobacco. Jack's scheme works, but Orin becomes increasingly convinced that Jack is in fact an impostor masquerading as the wealthy Sommersby, a suspicion that the smitten and quickly pregnant Laurel secretly shares. When Jack is arrested and charged with a murder he drunkenly committed years before, the court trial leads to some startling revelations about the past. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Directed By
- Jon Amiel
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Mystery & Suspense
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Feb 5, 1993 Wide
- Studio
- Warner Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
Though there is a near vaccuum at the center of the film, Sommersby is never boring, largely because of Ms. Foster's beautifully self-possessed presence.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
From start to finish, it is a well-crafted film: part love story, part mystery, and all drama.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
A square peg pounded into a round hole -- or, more exactly, a medieval European story that has been unsuccessfully updated to the period of the American Civil War.
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Rita Kempley, Washington Post
It's really an old-fashioned hankie-soaker with Gere and Foster ably jerking tears. An odd yet convincing couple, they won't replace Rhett and Scarlet, and frankly, my dears, who can? But belles wring and bosoms heave in a manner most pleasing.
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Desson Thomson, Washington Post
If you're looking for a picturesque romance -- with a little intrigue on the side -- you could do worse than Sommersby.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Richard Gere
as Jack
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Jodie Foster
as Laurel
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Lanny Flaherty
as Buck
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James Earl Jones
as Judge Issacs
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Wendell Wellman
as Travis
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Bill Pullman
as Orin Meecham
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William Windom
as Reverend Powell
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Maury Chaykin
as Lawyer Dawson
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Brett Kelley
as Little Rob
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Clarice Taylor
as Esther
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Frankie Faison
as Joseph
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R. Lee Ermey
as Dick Mead
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Richard Hamilton
as Doc Evans
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Dean Whitworth
as Tom Clemmons
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Stan Kelly
as John Green
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Richard Lineback
as Timothy Fry
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Paul Austin
as KKK #1/Folsom
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Ray McKinnon
as Lawyer Webb
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Doug Sloan
as Marshall #2
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Frank Hoyt Taylor
as KKK #2
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Muse Watson
as Drifter #1
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Mark Williams
as Boy #2
