Sommersby (1993)

Director:

Jon Amiel

Writers (WGA):

Daniel Vigne (film The Return of Martin Guerre) and
Jean-Claude Carrière (film The Return of Martin Guerre) ...

Release Date:

5 February 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

She knew his face. His touch. His voice. She knew everything about him... But the truth.

Plot:

Set in the south of the United States just after the Civil War, Laurel Sommersby is just managing to work the farm without her husband Jack...

Plot Keywords:

Impersonation | Remake | One Word Title | Courtroom | Historical

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Richard Gere	...	John Robert 'Jack' Sommersby
Jodie Foster	...	Laurel Sommersby
Bill Pullman	...	Orin Meecham
James Earl Jones	...	Judge Barry Conrad Issacs
Lanny Flaherty	...	Buck
William Windom	...	Reverend Powell
Wendell Wellman	...	Travis
Brett Kelley	...	Little Rob
Clarice Taylor	...	Esther
Frankie Faison	...	Joseph
R. Lee Ermey	...	Dick Mead
Richard Hamilton	...	Doc Evans
Karen Kirschenbauer	...	Mrs. Evans
Carter McNeese	...	Storekeeper Wilson
Dean Whitworth	...	Tom Clemmons

Also Known As:

Sommersby (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sensuality.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | France:Unrated | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:10 (1993) | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Appomattox, Virginia, USA

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

The Regency logo got it's theme song from this movie's main title.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the meeting when Sommersby suggests growing tobacco, he asks someone how many years he had been sharecropping. Sharecropping only began in America after the Civil War when landowners had no slaves and no money to pay workers.

Quotes:

Doc Evans: [Laurel is pregnant] I told you to use the fertilizer in the fields, Jack.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saved by the Bell: The College Years: Guess Who's Coming to College? (#1.1)" (1993)

Engaging and well acted, with an intriguing plot twist

"Sommersby" is an intriguing film that keeps the audience barely outside the scenes but close enough to be touched by them. The story, of Jack Sommersby (or so it appears) a changed man after returning to his wife and hometown years after being held captive in the Civil War, was borrowed from the French film "The Return of Martin Guerre." But apparently this one has some new twists.

As we watch this movie, we're not quite sure what to think. The townspeople, his friends, his dog and even his own wife aren't certain this is the man who left for the war. That, and the trial toward the end of the movie, stretches credulity a bit, my minor complaints. But after all, this is the movies, and there is a pretty good story here. A real tear-jerker, for certain.

Jodie Foster and Richard Gere carry this plot well, both putting in what I believe is some of their best work. The direction and cinematography also shine.

In the end, this movie is all about pure love of a man for a woman, in which he literally loves her more than life itself. That may seem a bit hokey, but it's a refreshing and enduring message in an movie age in which a one-night stand passes for a long-term relationship.