The American Civil War has ended. A man claiming to be Jack Sommersby (Richard Gere) returns to his southern plantation. The town is overjoyed. His wife Laurel (Jodie Foster) outwardly accepts him despite being happily widowed from her abusive husband. Disabled veteran neighbor Orin Meacham (Bill Pullman) is her romantic admirer. The returned Jack seems to have changed into a better man and Laurel falls in love with him. They rebuild their family with their son Rob by growing tobacco with the locals including the newly freed slaves. Events and his secret identity threaten to destroy them.
The elephant in the room keeps me from falling in love with this romance. Richard Gere has a bit too much of his modern boyish charms. He seems out of place. I need him to have a more intense war-haunted demeanor. It may also help if Meacham is played by a darker and more threatening villain. It would have been great to have Laurel knowing Jack is an impostor from the beginning, accuse Jack in private right off the bat, and falling in love in spite of it. While I can understand why this romance works for some people, it doesn't work for me.
The elephant in the room keeps me from falling in love with this romance. Richard Gere has a bit too much of his modern boyish charms. He seems out of place. I need him to have a more intense war-haunted demeanor. It may also help if Meacham is played by a darker and more threatening villain. It would have been great to have Laurel knowing Jack is an impostor from the beginning, accuse Jack in private right off the bat, and falling in love in spite of it. While I can understand why this romance works for some people, it doesn't work for me.