Rating: 
Summary: Sommersby
Review: After reading some of the other revues I just had to put my two cents worth in. First of all Sommersby is a wonderful post Civil War film. Is it historically accurate? Probably not, but the era it was filmed in was very well protrayed with the costumes, the sets, the props...all were very real. Jodie Foster and Richard Gere portrayed their characters well. Jodie Foster playing a softer role until her character was needed to be strong was very appealing. Richard Gere, as always, protrayed the HUNK very well. This is a good movie to watch when there is nothing else on TV or Cable or Satalite. Try it...you'll like it!
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful historical romance with a sad ending
Review: After watching Jodie Foster in "Nell," where she plays a speech-disturbed mountain woman, I was motivated to re-watch "Sommersby." What an actress! What a movie! She has the most "southern" accent of the two lead characters, and although she is a little unbelievable as a field worker, there is sensational chemistry between Foster as "Laurel Sommersby" and her civil war veteran husband, played by strikingly handsome Richard Gere. This movie is not accurate in all its historical details, for instance, everyone is too clean and well-washed to have been working in the hot fields all day, given the state of personal hygiene at the time. And Gere is just TOO handsome and manly to have spent half a dozen years withering away in a cell as a civil war POW. And the townspeople are soooo easily moved to community action. They are just a mite too credulous given the war-time setting. But if you prefer dreamy historical romance to stark reality, you will indeed enjoy this film. The narrative progresses without any slow spots from the moment the opening credits roll and we see Gere aka Sommersby burying his dead partner. Then he walks and walks, through the lush scenery of the war-ravaged south, until the viewer is as ready for "home" as he must have been relieved to finally arrive. Greeted like a treasured hero by the townspeople, he is then taken in by a skeptical wife despite not a word between them for six years. With great tact and consideration, Jack Sommersby proceeds to court his wife, leading to many tantalizing moments and lots of significant looks between them. In the meantime, he devises a plan to buy seeds to grow burley tobacco in overgrown fields on the Sommersby estate, using the labor of the townspeople. They will not be sharecroppers, but owners, and even the "coloured folk" will have the option to buy, which later leads to a KKK cross-burning scene. Complications result from the fact that, during her husband's long absence, Laurel Sommersby had been keeping company with Orrin, another veteran, and although she tells her husband she hadn't been kissed, the rival lover hovers in jealous rage, and when his chance comes to do harm to Jack Sommersby, he takes it. All along, Laurel finds herself wondering "Who is this man in my kitchen?" because before he went away 6 years ago, her husband was a no-good drinker and gambler who abused her and didn't love her. The man who returns to her is wholly changed, a considerate lover, a caring father, a responsible member of the community. Is he really Jack Sommersby, or an imposter? When the tobacco crops are growing well and standing tall in the fields, the married lovers are delighting in their happiness, and just after the first baby is born, two federal marshalls arrive to carry Jack away to Nashville be tried for murder. I won't give away the ending, but I cried and cried all through the last 20 minutes or so of this touching romantic film. You never do find out if "Sommersby" is himself or not. Either way, he has changed for the better. This is definitely an enjoyable film. If you are a fan of romantic historical romance, you will enjoy this delicious love story.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful historical romance with a sad ending
Review: After watching Jodie Foster in "Nell," where she plays a speech-disturbed mountain woman, I was motivated to re-watch "Sommersby." What an actress! What a movie! She has the most "southern" accent of the two lead characters, and although she is a little unbelievable as a field worker, there is sensational chemistry between Foster as "Laurel Sommersby" and her civil war veteran husband, played by strikingly handsome Richard Gere. This movie is not accurate in all its historical details, for instance, everyone is too clean and well-washed to have been working in the hot fields all day, given the state of personal hygiene at the time. And Gere is just TOO handsome and manly to have spent half a dozen years withering away in a cell as a civil war POW. And the townspeople are soooo easily moved to community action. They are just a mite too credulous given the war-time setting. But if you prefer dreamy historical romance to stark reality, you will indeed enjoy this film. The narrative progresses without any slow spots from the moment the opening credits roll and we see Gere aka Sommersby burying his dead partner. Then he walks and walks, through the lush scenery of the war-ravaged south, until the viewer is as ready for "home" as he must have been relieved to finally arrive. Greeted like a treasured hero by the townspeople, he is then taken in by a skeptical wife despite not a word between them for six years. With great tact and consideration, Jack Sommersby proceeds to court his wife, leading to many tantalizing moments and lots of significant looks between them. In the meantime, he devises a plan to buy seeds to grow burley tobacco in overgrown fields on the Sommersby estate, using the labor of the townspeople. They will not be sharecroppers, but owners, and even the "coloured folk" will have the option to buy, which later leads to a KKK cross-burning scene. Complications result from the fact that, during her husband's long absence, Laurel Sommersby had been keeping company with Orrin, another veteran, and although she tells her husband she hadn't been kissed, the rival lover hovers in jealous rage, and when his chance comes to do harm to Jack Sommersby, he takes it. All along, Laurel finds herself wondering "Who is this man in my kitchen?" because before he went away 6 years ago, her husband was a no-good drinker and gambler who abused her and didn't love her. The man who returns to her is wholly changed, a considerate lover, a caring father, a responsible member of the community. Is he really Jack Sommersby, or an imposter? When the tobacco crops are growing well and standing tall in the fields, the married lovers are delighting in their happiness, and just after the first baby is born, two federal marshalls arrive to carry Jack away to Nashville be tried for murder. I won't give away the ending, but I cried and cried all through the last 20 minutes or so of this touching romantic film. You never do find out if "Sommersby" is himself or not. Either way, he has changed for the better. This is definitely an enjoyable film. If you are a fan of romantic historical romance, you will enjoy this delicious love story.
Rating: 
Summary: Slumbersby
Review: From the creaky opening scenes to the final crash of Gere's wooden acting this film takes the biscuit for tedium. Rumoured that Foster only accepted the film after more lucrative contracts fell through, it remains a pale travesty of the original French film. A weak attempt to make the film palatable for US audiences goes totally against the original medieval European story that has been unsuccessfully updated to the period of the American Civil War. The deception that was just barely believable when set at the time of the Hundred Years' War, where it could play off the superstition that a man might be transformed by war becomes totally unbeleivable in its present version. My advice - paint some walls and watch 'em dry.
Rating:
Summary: A touching romance
Review: I am a dyed-in-the-wool romantic. When I went to see this film in the theatre several years ago, I only knew it was a romance based on the French film The Return of Martin Guerre. (I knew nothing about the original film either.) I found Sommersby to be a very charming love story, everything I expected a romance to be. I'm not a fan of Richard Gere, but I enjoyed his performance as Jack and he and Jodie Foster had excellent chemstry. What I didn't expect was the way the film ended. As the film moved towards it's conclusion, I reached for the tissues only to find I didn't have any! I thus sat there struggling to keep the tears at bay (it didn't work :) ) But it's not just a romance, there is a tinge of mystery. Jack Sommersby, we assume from what we see on the screen, was not a nice person before the war. He comes back a changed man -- is it indeed Jack Sommersby -- or is it someone else? For those who enjoy a good period romance movie, this is an excellent choice. If you enjoy a good cry, again, an excellent choice.
Rating:
Summary: A touching romance
Review: I am a dyed-in-the-wool romantic. When I went to see this film in the theatre several years ago, I only knew it was a romance based on the French film The Return of Martin Guerre. (I knew nothing about the original film either.) I found Sommersby to be a very charming love story, everything I expected a romance to be. I'm not a fan of Richard Gere, but I enjoyed his performance as Jack and he and Jodie Foster had excellent chemstry. What I didn't expect was the way the film ended. As the film moved towards it's conclusion, I reached for the tissues only to find I didn't have any! I thus sat there struggling to keep the tears at bay (it didn't work :) ) But it's not just a romance, there is a tinge of mystery. Jack Sommersby, we assume from what we see on the screen, was not a nice person before the war. He comes back a changed man -- is it indeed Jack Sommersby -- or is it someone else? For those who enjoy a good period romance movie, this is an excellent choice. If you enjoy a good cry, again, an excellent choice.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story magnificently crafted and acted
Review: I had always loved the French film THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE from which SOMMERSBY finds its source.I like SOMMERSBY far better now recast in the post Civil War period with a far more romantic story expertly played by Jodie Foster and Richard Gere.This film is beautifully crafted with breathtaking cinematography and a truly delicious soundtrack to enhance the intense emotion of the heartbreaking story.Few movies make me consistently cry.That is not the case in SOMMERSBY.Foster and Gere do it everytime!Bill Pullman's supporting role is played with appropriate smarminess.A TRULY EXCELLENT FILM.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie for homeschoolers...
Review: I just used my copy of this movie with my 6th grade daughter while we covering the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, the economic losses of the South, and the forming of the KKK. She was engrossed in the plot, and it provided many opportunities for her to see what I meant by, "the South was a disaster after the war." The movie is rated PG-13 so should be watched with an adult, but IMHO, the sex is barely there and the movie itself teaches so much that it is worth any risk you may feel you are taking showing this to an 11 or 12 y/o. Simply explain to your kids that they are married and sex between married people is supposed to be wonderful. The acting, scenery, costumes, script, and plot were wonderful. I do not care for romantic films, but this one is part of my collection. I think it is excellent for use with kids who can tie things all together with videos better than books. My daughter is very hyper and gets bored easily, this movie held her the entire time.
Rating:
Summary: Modern-Day Classic
Review: I love this movie and try to watch it at least once a year (a rarity for me). It's extremely moving and a great love story to boot.
Rating:
Summary: Modern-Day Classic
Review: I love this movie and try to watch it at least once a year (a rarity for me). It's extremely moving and a great love story to boot.
| 
