Sommersby [DVD] [1993]

Amazon.co.uk Review Based on the French film, The Return of Martin Guerre (which itself was based on a famous court case), this 1993 film by director Jon Amiel recasts the same essential story in post-Civil War Tennessee, in a dirt-poor town suffering the effects of the South's loss. Jodie Foster plays Laurel Sommersby, a widow whose husband died in the Civil War--or so everyone thinks. Then one day, Jack Sommersby (Richard Gere) strolls back into town and back into Laurel's bed--seemingly a very changed man. Gone is the selfish, nasty guy no one much liked. In his place is a friendly, sensitive and resourceful new Jack who not only rekindles the long-dead fire of his marriage, but revives the entire town. Except for one small catch: he may not actually be Jack Sommersby at all. Beautifully shot by Amiel (with a great assist from cameraman Philippe Rousselot) from a script by Nicholas Meyer and Sarah Kernochan, the film features a sturdy, even flinty performance by Foster and a beguiling one by Gere. Though the ending will squeeze the tear ducts, the film earns those tears. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com Product Description Celebrated remake of the French hit 'The Return of Martin Guerre' with Richard Gere in the Depardieu role of a man returning from war changed by his experiences. Moving the setting of the original film from 16th Century France to post-civil war Tennessee, Jodie Foster plays the wife who though initially suspicious of her husband's radical change, ignores local gossip to be rapidly won over by his charm and new found egalitarianism. But those around her are less willing to accept him, suspecting he has murdered the real man at war in order to claim his estate and family.