Sommersby (1993)

Sommersby: Directed by Jon Amiel. With Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, Lanny Flaherty, Wendell Wellman. A farmer returns home from the Civil War, but his wife begins to suspect that the man is an impostor.

“Released in 1993 and directed by Jon Amiel, u0026quot;Sommersbyu0026quot; stars Richard Gere as a Confederate soldier returning to his rundown estate in Tennessee and his wife, Laurel (Jodie Foster), after a long six years absence. Curiously, Laurel discovers that the war has changed Jack for the better. Bill Pullman plays his rival for Laurelu0026#39;s affections while James Earl Jones appears as a judge in the final act.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is such a well-done Civil War drama, taking place just after the war in 1866-1867. The story is contrived, but executed believably with convincing performances. Contrived or not, something like this COULD happen, if you reflect on it. I canu0026#39;t say more because itu0026#39;s best that you go into the movie without knowing the revelations of the final act. The first half is low-key, but itu0026#39;s just a foundation for the realistic thrills of the mid-point and the suspenseful drama of the closing act.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film runs 114 minutes and was shot in Virginia with the opening winter scene filmed at Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort, West Virginia.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGRADE: B+ u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eADDITIONAL COMMENTARY ***SPOILER ALERT*** u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA clueless reviewer criticized the film on the grounds that u0026quot;this story fell a bit flat for me when Jack, for some reason, doesnu0026#39;t tell the same (true) story (that clarifies the identity confusion) to the court, that he does to his wife in the final jail scene.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is incredible because the movie plainly reveals several reasons why Jack didnu0026#39;t want to tell the truth that he wasnu0026#39;t really Jack Sommersby: (1.) The freed blacks and others who bought u0026amp; farmed parts of his land would lose it; (2.) his wife u0026amp; daughter would be condemned as an adulteress and a bastard child respectively; (3.) he u0026quot;buriedu0026quot; Horace Townsend forever when he buried the real Jack Sommersby; he wasnu0026#39;t willing to u0026quot;resurrectu0026quot; that wicked loser, even at the cost of his life.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd (4.) If jack was proved to be Horace, and was released, another court would have arrested him on the grounds that he was a liar, an impostor and a thief. That court would NOT have released him on the grounds that he had found love and done charitable things while impersonating a dead man. He would have gone to prison and possibly even died for his actual crimes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo dying for a cause he believed in, for people who respected him, made more sense than dying without any honor or legacy whatsoever.”