Excellent but underrated film

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Released in 1993 and directed by Jon Amiel, "Sommersby" stars Richard Gere as a Confederate soldier returning to his rundown estate in Tennessee and his wife, Laurel (Jodie Foster), after a long six years absence. Curiously, Laurel discovers that the war has changed Jack for the better. Bill Pullman plays his rival for Laurel's affections while James Earl Jones appears as a judge in the final act.This is such a well-done Civil War drama, taking place just after the war in 1866-1867. The story is contrived, but executed believably with convincing performances. Contrived or not, something like this COULD happen, if you reflect on it. I can't say more because it's best that you go into the movie without knowing the revelations of the final act. The first half is low-key, but it's just a foundation for the realistic thrills of the mid-point and the suspenseful drama of the closing act.The film runs 114 minutes and was shot in Virginia with the opening winter scene filmed at Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort, West Virginia.GRADE: B+ ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY ***SPOILER ALERT*** A clueless reviewer criticized the film on the grounds that "this story fell a bit flat for me when Jack, for some reason, doesn't tell the same (true) story (that clarifies the identity confusion) to the court, that he does to his wife in the final jail scene." This is incredible because the movie plainly reveals several reasons why Jack didn't want to tell the truth that he wasn't really Jack Sommersby: (1.) The freed blacks and others who bought & farmed parts of his land would lose it; (2.) his wife & daughter would be condemned as an adulteress and a bastard child respectively; (3.) he "buried" Horace Townsend forever when he buried the real Jack Sommersby; he wasn't willing to "resurrect" that wicked loser, even at the cost of his life.And (4.) If jack was proved to be Horace, and was released, another court would have arrested him on the grounds that he was a liar, an impostor and a thief. That court would NOT have released him on the grounds that he had found love and done charitable things while impersonating a dead man. He would have gone to prison and possibly even died for his actual crimes.So dying for a cause he believed in, for people who respected him, made more sense than dying without any honor or legacy whatsoever.

Directed by Jon Amiel, Sommersby is adapted from the historical account of 16th Century French peasant Martin Guerre. It was previously filmed as The Return of Martin Guerre in 1982. It stars Richard Gere, Jodie Foster and Bill Pullman. Music is by Danny Elfman and cinematography by Philippe Rousselot. In simple terms the film is about a man (Jack Sommersby) who went off to war and was presumed dead by his wife (Laurel) and the village folk of the village where he lived. Some 9 years later he returns a changed man, back in the marital bed and a hero to the village. But then questions start to crop up and it becomes a possibility that this man may not after all be who he claims to be. Sounds bizarre for sure, yet it's a true story, and a fascinating one at that.For this American version we get top line production values across the board, with the film propelled with grace and skill by Gere and Foster in the lead roles of Jack and Laurel Sommersby. Director Amiel rightly uses the slow burn approach, a consideration to the art of story telling. This draws the viewer firmly into the post Civil War period and lets us get to know the principal players and their surroundings.The core narrative thrust is a moving romance, one consistently under pressure of a mystery to be proved or disproved. But there's also economic issues to hand, very much so, and the vile stench of racism still hangs in the air. There's a lot going on in Sommersby and it never sags because of it. Also refreshing that in spite of some critical grumblings in some quarters, the ending is potent and not very Hollywood at all. It's not flawless and although it's based on a true story, some suspension of disbelief is needed as regards physical appearance of Jack and his means and motives. Yet this is a lovely film, simple in story telling structure, beautifully photographed and performed, it very much feels and plays like a classic era period piece. 8/10

Part of why this movie resonated so much with me was that I saw it right before I got married, and I thought, now THAT'S the kind of commitment a marriage needs. This is a rather sweet tale of love and sacrifice. Admittedly, it's a bit far fetched at times, but if you buy into it, it is a rewarding movie.John Robert "Jack" Sommersby (Richard Gere) went off to fight the Civil War, as did many plantation owners in the South, leaving his wife, Laurel (Jody Foster)and son (Brett Kelley) behind. Laurel is a resourceful woman, and she manages the farm on her own. When Jack is presumed dead, Laurel starts a relationship with her neighbor Orin (Bill Pullman). Consequently, neither of them is particularly happy when Jack turns up at the plantation after the war, Laurel because Jack didn't treat her very well, and Orin because he wants Laurel. Still, Laurel feels she must honor her marriage vows, and breaks things off with Orin, who, being a rather poor sport, remains a continual thorn in Jack's side. However, Laurel starts noticing that Jack is much different than when he left for the war. He is kinder, more loving, treats her and their son much better. She actually starts to fall in love with him. The farm prospers and Laurel gives birth to a baby girl that they name Rachel. And then one day, Jack is accused of murdering someone during the war. Suddenly the question of his identity becomes all important, because Jack Sommersby is guilty of murder, of that there is no question. But if this man is someone else pretending to be Jack Sommersby, then he is innocent. Of course, if he isn't Jack Sommersby, then Laurel's reputation is shot, as is Rachel's. Who is this man that has been living with Laurel? Who will he choose to be?It's a rather intriguing premise, as by the end of the movie, Jack is in a no win situation, and his choice may not be what the viewer would expect. Still, the story is presented in such a way that you understand both Jack's choice in spite of what he must sacrifice and Laurel's willingness to stand by him in spite of what she must sacrifice. This makes for a most satisfying ending.The acting was excellent. Gere gives a moving portrait of a man who discovers love, and discovers that love requires a nobility that he hadn't realized he was capable of. Foster's performance shows Laurel's quiet determination to get through whatever she has to and survive as best she can. Pullman's Orin comes off as increasingly whiny and spoiled, which works well for the character he creates. James Earl Jones' judge is an excellent rendering. Of the smaller roles, the most notable is William Windom as the Reverend Powell, showing us that once again, no matter how small the part, he will give it his all.Admittedly this is a tear jerker. I choke up just thinking of the ending. But it is ultimately a tale of nobility and sacrifice showing that sometimes we must sacrifice all to safeguard those we love.

It would have made a great Twilight Zone episode. A man returns home after a six-year absence caused by the Civil War. He's the same man, and yet not the same. He's been taking lessons from Deepak Chopra or somebody because whereas before his departure he was a scumbag he has now turned into a populist hero of the Frank Capra brand. Is he an impostor? If so, why? And why doesn't the wife he comes home to recognize it? Why doesn't the entire VILLAGE see that he's a different guy? Six years isn't so long. When I look in the mirror I see the same Adonis I was six years ago, as good as ever. Better even.The most interesting features of this movie would have turned on the mystery of the new Sommersby trying to adjust to the life of the old. Yes, he's kinder, and maybe a better lover, and his shoe size seems to have changed. But that's about it.The bulk of the movie deals with a kind of love triangle between Richard Gere as Sommersby, Jody Foster as his wife, and Bill Pullman as a neighbor who had hoped to take Sommersby's place after a suitable period.We have to sit through scenes of Gere and Foster falling more deeply in love, and learning to trust each other (and then not trusting, and then trusting again, and then not trusting, and finally trusting again). I hope that came out right. I was a little confused after a while.The courtroom scene, in which Sommersby is charged with murdering someone, REALLY was confusing. A witness is brought in who claims to have know Gere when he was not Sommersby but somebody named Horace or something. This other Gere was a con man who pretended to be someone else, insinuate himself into the trust of his new community, gather up all their treasure for an economic venture -- maybe getting a town belle preggers -- and then take off, leaving them flat.And then -- well, I don't think I'll divulge the conclusion of the story here because I still don't know what the conclusion is. I THINK Gere is actually Horace and that Horace killed the original Sommersby, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.Nothing wrong with the performances or the direction. The music is a little soupy, the photography surprisingly fuzzy and unsunny, and the plot as murky as a pot o' skoosh.I suspect the audience could have swallowed that initial implausibility -- Gere posing as a non-Gere after such a short absence -- if it had led to further curious incidents casting doubt on his identity. Not just the shrunken shoe size. The writers could have thrown in a shrunken hat size as well. Or his wife might have noticed something about him at night. Well -- let that go. Yes. All in all, it would have been a great Twilight Zone without all that love and intrigue being impastoed all over it. I didn't care for it. It seems too slow. But it has enough redeeming features that I can understand why some people might feel differently.