Sommersby

Finally! An American adaptation of a French movie that works. Read full review

Sommersby is an unabashedly romantic and morally intricate Civil War-era tale splendidly acted by Richard Gere and Jodie Foster. It’s one of those rare occasions that the Americanization of a foreign property (here Daniel Vigne’s The Return of Martin Guerre) works as well as the original. Read full review

With respect to Martin Guerre, Sommersby can genuinely be viewed as an homage -- the spirit of the original remains intact, which is perhaps the most satisfying aspect of this production. Read full review

The remake is both more romantic and more resonant than the original. It's less of a star vehicle for its leading actor, and it sticks to its guns right down its stunningly orchestrated finish. In almost every way it's an intelligent improvement. [05 Feb 1993, p.3]

The solid script makes the most of the dilemmas and paradoxes of the couple's predicament; Philippe Rousselot's photography manages to be lyrical without becoming too cloyingly picturesque; and surprisingly (the only surprise in this craftsmanlike but unremarkable movie), it doesn't cop out at the end. Read full review

What sounded like an embarrassing blunder -- the romantic pairing of Richard Gere and Jodie Foster -- turns out to be surprisingly entertaining and persuasive. Read full review

The love story, beautifully acted by Richard Gere and Jodie Foster, makes for a ravishing romance. And British-born Jon Amiel (Queen of Hearts, TV’s Singing Detective) directs with admirable restraint. Read full review

If Sommersby is finally more pleasant than exciting, that may be because its post-Civil War setting robs the story of much of its exoticism. Read full review

Sommersby is a handsome throwback to a kind of film that hardly gets made anymore. It's a richly textured period love story powered by two charismatic and intelligent star performances, with a fullness and amplitude that one more readily associates with quality studio films of the past rather than the MTV quick-cut present. [05 Feb 1993, p.25]

Sommersby's admirable script, by Nicholas Meyer and Sarah Kernochan (based on a story by Meyer and Anthony Shaffer that's in turn based on "Martin Guerre"), turns what might have been merely a pretext for melodrama into a provocative exploration of the meaning of identity. [05 Feb 1993, p.L27]

Gere and Foster play out an exciting love story that is heartfelt, romantic and thoughtful. It slows a bit at the end but is beautifully produced and vaguely suggests the tale's original medieval setting. [05 Mar 1993, p.E16]

The rich performances from Foster and Gere and the steady direction from Jon Amiel ensure that love is all you need. [09 Feb 1993, p.4D]

Directed a tad languidly by Jon Amiel, "Sommersby" has highbrow pretentions, but it's really an old-fashioned hankie-soaker with Gere and Foster ably jerking tears. Read full review

If you're looking for a picturesque romance -- with a little intrigue on the side -- you could do worse than "Sommersby." Read full review

Though there is a near vaccuum at the center of the film, "Sommersby" is never boring, largely because of Ms. Foster's beautifully self-possessed presence. Read full review

A romantic drama which has lost some of the intended edge thanks to the Hollywood treatment. Read full review

Sommersby is not quite the old-fashioned romantic classic it tries to be. But given its problems, what is surprising about this three-hanky film is how close it gets at times to providing the traditional satisfactions of the genre. Read full review

The love scenes turn out to be the most appealing sequences in this otherwise uninspired movie. [05 Feb 1993, p.17]

This remake was a bad idea that only got worse. Read full review

Shifting her "Silence of the Lambs" accent a bit westward, the always-reliable Foster is given little to do except react and smile enigmatically, while the always-wooden Gere is all grins and charm, coming across less as a shadowy protagonist than a State Farm agent. [05 Feb 1993, p.B]

The performance are uniformly wonderful, making Sommersby solidly entertaining though never engrossing. Read full review

Sommersby simply lacks momentum and sense. [05 Feb 1993, p.G5]