Sommersby (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Good story, wonderful acting
Disadvantages:	Shock ending for me !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Making the most of having the night to my self with full control over the film choice I though I would watch a good old Romantic with the very hunky Richard Gere!

Richard Gere plays the role of Jack Sommersby who at the very beginning of the film we see burying a body, he has been away at war for the last 6 years and when he finally returns home he receives a heroes’ welcome from the towns people but when he finally gets back to his wife she is very unsure of him. We do learn that before h e went away he was very nasty to her and as a result they are in separate bedrooms. The family dog is also wary of him but he is soon to be found dead by Jack’s son. Laura, jack’s wife has been seeing another man while jack was away so she does the dutiful thing and calls things off with him and says she has to stand by her husband which her lover is not at all happy about.

Laura starts to become very suspicious of Jack when he starts being very loving towards her and spending time with their son and she soon realises that he has changed so much. Things take a funny turn for jack when he goes to get new boots and his feet has shrunk by two sizes but the shoe maker thinks he must have made a mistake.

Jack’s land and home is run down now and they no longer have any money so he gets the towns people together and talks them into renting land from him and growing tobacco giving Jack a cut of the profits and then being given the choice to buy the land. This causes a lot of problems as the white people do not want to share land with the blacks but after a lot of persuasion they are all giving jack their prize possessions so they can buy the tobacco seeds.

Laura’s ex-lover is becoming suspicious of Jack and does some digging and he finds what he believes to be evidence that Jack is not the same Jack who left for war but when he tells Laura she tells him he is lying.

Will Laura’s lover be right in his theory that Jack is not the same man who left for war, what will become of the tobacco and ultimately will Laura believe her husband is the man he says he is?

When I told my Mom which film I was going to be watching she was shocked that I had never seen it before and told me I was in for a treat, I just wish she would have given me a bit of warning about the ending though! I thought that Richard Gere did a wonderful job of portraying his character and he worked very well with Jodie Forster who played his long suffering wife. They had a wonderful chemistry together and managed to bring this to the screen. All of the supporting actors were also very good in their roles and they did bring a little bit of depth to the storyline and made in more believable.

I thought that the storyline was very good if not completely believable but then again 6 years away from home then there are bound to be changes in a persons appearance. I think that the story was well done in how it touched upon the racism issue which was very rife back in the olden days in America when black people were still slaves. The arrival of the white hooded men in the film was a bit too much for me but then again this is the sort of think which did happen back them but to me I don’t think it was necessary in the film despite being very well done.

I believe that the film was set in the 1800’s but do correct me if I am wrong, and I think that a lot of time, money and effort was put into the making of the sets and costumes as they all looked very authentic and genuine. I did notice that we were treated to some wonderful views over the American country side and some lovely mountain shots which did add to the film for me as I do enjoy seeing things like this and just hope one day I will get to see them in real! From the accents which the actors were using I would say that it was set in Southern America and I think that it the film was wonderfully shot and made.

The music in the film was good although none of the songs really stood out to me but they all did add to the film and help the viewer experience the emotions it the actors were putting across.

The DVD which I have does not have any special feature just the usual, scene selection and language choice which did not really bother me as I am not one to watch these features anyway.

The running time of the film is 109 minutes which I found a good length as the story kept moving at a good pace from the start and the certificate is a 12 which I definitely agree with as the story does touch upon a few sensitive storylines and there are a few sex scenes.

I paid just £3 for this in Tesco which I feel to be a great bargain and I am going to recommend this film to all as it is wonderfully moving and romantic but the end was a bit of a shocker for me!