Sommersby (1993)

The acting in this movie is really good.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Great film - really enjoyed the twist - was Gere the killer?Sommersby might be considered a woman's flick. Well, so be it and more power to it. Go ahead and be ready to laugh, and also to tear up over some of the scenes. This is a well-acted, well directed, and enjoyable film in the solid time- honored tradition of totally watchable Grade B movies. Some of the characters portrayed are people a viewer can get to know for a few hours and really sympathize with. Other's behavior you can get mad at. You might even want to express a little outrage at some behavior portrayed. Enjoy it. The film has its flaws, but for the most part is one the sensitive and discerning viewer can see more that once and be happier with than much of the real trivial tripe that passes for film these days. And to be perfectly honest, it's better than the book.

This is an okay film romance set in the South just after the Civil War. A husband returns from the war but he doesn't seem "right"--he looks a tiny bit different and acts too nice to be the same man. Eventually, this all comes to a head in a confrontation that might lead to the man's incarceration or execution. The sad thing is, his wife prefers this new man and would rather have him than the man who left for the war.Technically, this is a pretty good film but certainly not a great film. The problem I have with it, though, is that this is a remake of the French film THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE--a TRUE account of a story like SOMMERSBY that occurred several hundred years ago. This Gérard Depardieu film is better acted and written, but also less "glossy". I recommend that if the story sounds interesting, why not just see the original since it is the better film.

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT POST: Jodie Foster and Richard Gere have a lot of chemistry besides both being very talented people. I wanted to see this movie because the premise sounded SO interesting and it was. The film was very interesting and Foster and Gere were both terrific. It was a good movie.I DID have a major problem with the ending. And it's not because it wasn't "Hollywood". I just thought it didn't need to end like that. It is really difficult with endings sometimes because if a movie ends to happily it can be labeled "Hollywood", and if A movie ends to sad, it can be called "manipulative." I do this all the time myself. But honestly-in this case-the ending was such an automatic tearjerker and it bothered me because while I could understand the choice Gere's character made, in some respects, I had a hard time believing he'd make it anyway. I kept thinking something would happen to save him at the end and the last scene with Foster was not how I anticipated it ending. I thought something else might happen.I can see where the movie would stretch believability at times but my feeling is Foster and Gere were so good respectively, that they make you believe. Richard Gere is one of the most likable actors I've ever seen and Foster-she's just indescribable. The movie was really moving. Also beautifully filmed.I'd give this movie a solid recommendation especially to any strong Gere or Foster fans or for that matter to tearjerker movie purists. You'll find more then enough to move you here.

Here is the story of a man whom you both love & hate. You can't quite hate him because he gives the slaves land, but you can't quite love him, either, because of who he was before. He changed, to be sure, & you understand why he lied, but it's hard to accept that he would pretend to be someone he is not. In the end, you forgive his lies when he makes the right choice that allows the slaves to keep their land. This film makes you think about right & wrong, honesty & lies. Sometimes, there is more honor in lying, as this film displays.