Sommersby

Sommersby
Sommersby Promotional Movie Poster
Directed by	Jon Amiel
Produced by	Arnon Milchan Steven Reuther
Screenplay by	Nicholas Meyer Sarah Kernochan
Story by	Nicholas Meyer Anthony Shaffer
Based on	The Return of Martin Guerre by Daniel Vigne Jean-Claude Carrière Natalie Zemon Davis
Starring	Richard Gere Jodie Foster Bill Pullman James Earl Jones
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Edited by	Peter Boyle
Production company	Le Studio Canal+ Regency Enterprises Alcor Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	February 5, 1993
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$140,081,992

Sommersby is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Richard Gere, Jodie Foster, Bill Pullman and James Earl Jones.

Set in the Reconstruction period following the U.S. Civil War, the story is adapted from the historical account of 16th century French peasant Martin Guerre (previously filmed by Daniel Vigne as The Return of Martin Guerre with Gérard Depardieu in 1982).

John "Jack" Sommersby (Gere) left his farm to fight in the American Civil War and is presumed dead after six years. Despite the hardship of working their farm, his apparent widow Laurel (Foster) is quite content in his absence, because Jack was an unpleasant and abusive husband. She even makes remarriage plans with one of her neighbors, Orin Meacham (Pullman), who despite his own hardships (such as a wooden foot, which he wears to replace one that was lost in the war) has been helping her and her young son with the farmwork.

One day, Jack seemingly returns with a complete change of heart. He is now kind and loving to Laurel and their young son, Rob. In the evenings, he reads to them from Homer's Iliad, which the old Jack never would have done. He claims that the book was given to him by a man he met in prison, and that "War changes you; makes you appreciate things." Jack and Laurel rekindle their intimacy, which leads to Laurel becoming pregnant.

Displaced from his courtship of Laurel, Meacham immediately suspects Jack as an impostor. The town shoemaker also finds that this man's foot is two sizes smaller than the last which had been made for Sommersby before the war. In order to revive the local economy, Jack suggests Burley tobacco as a cash crop. He raises the seed money by selling parts of his own farm to people who will then work the land to grow tobacco. This raises further doubts in his old neighbors who believe that the "old" Jack would not be so hasty to give away his beloved father's land, as well as resentment among Confederate veterans about the inclusion of former slaves.