Critic Reviews
66
Metascore
Generally Favorable
positive
15(68%)
mixed
6(27%)
negative
1(5%)
Showing 22 Critic Reviews
100
Finally! An American adaptation of a French movie that works.
100
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.
88
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.
88
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]
80
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.
75
What sounded like an embarrassing blunder -- the romantic pairing of Richard Gere and Jodie Foster -- turns out to be surprisingly entertaining and persuasive.
75
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.
75
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.
75
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]
75
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]
