The Return of the Native Movie Review 1994

Wind-swept moors, a tempestuous heroine, two loves, and requisite tragedy all courtesy of Thomas Hardy's 1878 novel. Beautiful Eustacia Vye (Jones) longs to leave the boredom of Egdon Heath--even though she's involved with the roguish Damon Wildeve (Owen). Then businessman Clym Yeobright (Stevenson) returns from Paris and captures Eustacia's fancy. She marries him in the hope they'll return to the continent but she's bitterly disappointed when Clym wants to remain in Egdon. Meanwhile, Damon has married Clym's gentle cousin Thomasin (Skinner) but he and Eustacia can't seem to stay away from each other, leading to storms for all.

Distribution

Lions Gate Entertainment, 2700 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404, Phone: (310)449-9200, Fax: (310)255-3870, URL: http://www.lgf.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS
Running time 99 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Romantic Drama, Books to Film: Thomas Hardy, Tragedy, Great Britain, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Period Piece: 19th Century

Screenplay

Robert W. Lenski

Cast

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Clive Owen, Ray Stevenson, Claire Skinner, Joan Plowright, Steven Mackintosh, Celia Imrie, Paul Rogers

Director

Jack Gold

Music

Carl Davis

Producer

Richard Welsh, Craig Anderson, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Inc. Signboard Hill Productions