Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Set in the South just after the US Civil War, Laurel Sommersby is just managing to work the farm without her husband, believed killed in battle. By all accounts, Jack Sommersby was not a pleasant man, thus when he suddenly returns, Laurel has mixed emotions. It appears that Jack has changed a great deal, leading some people to believe that this is not actually Jack but an imposter. Laurel herself is unsure, but willing to take the man into her home, and perhaps later into her heart.
Sommersby is a competent Hollywood remake of the French classic The Return of Martin Guerre, transplanted to the post-Civil War American South. The plot is engaging enough with its identity mystery and romantic tension, though it loses some of the moral complexity of its source material. Gere and Foster deliver solid if unremarkable performances, with Foster bringing more emotional depth than Gere. The cinematography captures the period setting adequately without being visually distinctive. As a remake with a familiar premise, novelty is limited — it trades heavily on its source and adds relatively conventional Hollywood trappings. The ending, while emotionally affecting, follows a tragic arc that feels both earned and somewhat predictable given the setup.