Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 6, 1993 TAG: 9302060253
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`SOMMERSBY' IS SIMPLY ROMANTIC
"Sommersby" is a thoroughly enjoyable, old-fashioned period drama.Though the extensive use of Western Virginia locations will generate considerable local interest, this is just a good story that's exceptionally well-told. It's probably best not to dwell too long on the details of the plot, or to be too logical, particularly toward the end. This isn't meant to be strictly accurate history; it's a romance, meant to be appreciated emotionally, not intellectually.
The film is a loose retelling of "The Return of Martin Guerre" set at the end of the Civil War. That's when Jack Sommersby (Richard Gere) returns home to Vine Hill, Tenn., for the first time in seven years, many of them spent in a Union prison camp. He's been changed by the war, but his friends and neighbors still recognize him.
His wife, Laurel (Jodie Foster), is cool to him initially. Thinking him dead, she'd been set to marry Orin Meecham (Bill Pullman). But she learns that this Jack is different, in both his private life at home - a war-ravaged mansion - and as one of the town's leading citizens.
Jack has ideas to end the crushing poverty that everyone, black and white, has been suffering since the end of the war. His kind of "progress" doesn't sit well with everyone in Vine Hill, and there are still questions about his identity. Is he an imposter?
The dialogue by Nicholas Meyer and Sarah Kernochan sometimes lapses into contemporary slang, but the Southern accents are better than average for a Hollywood film. Director John Amiel captured the mountains at their most picturesque and at their hardscrabble worst. His softly lit interiors are strongly evocative of another century. More importantly, Amiel tells the story simply, without visual flourishes.
That's as it should be because at heart, the film is about Jack and Laurel. It works through them, or it doesn't work at all. Here, the chemistry is right. Richard Gere and Jodie Foster are at their most engaging. In the big courtroom finale, when credibility is stretched to its limit, they're letter-perfect.
These aren't the most difficult or complex roles they've ever played, and Civil War purists will probably find much to object to. But those criticisms are immaterial. "Sommersby" means to be nothing more (or less) than crowd-pleasing popular entertainment, and that's exactly what it is.
Sommersby: ***
A Warner Bros. release playing at the Salem Valley 8, Valley View Mall 6. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, some strong language and violence. 110 min.