Catherine Zeta Jones Movie:

		List Price: $19.98		Label: Hallmark Salesrank: 35168 Released: May 21, 2002
		Our Price: $25.74
		Used Price: $22.99
		MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: DVD

The Return of the Native Reviews:
True Love?
2008-11-16 - What is true love based on .. a dream of something better or a matter of the heart? ... and what would you choose? Good movie to make you realize the choices that we make will make or break our lives.

waste of time
2008-09-10 - very disappointed in this production, though it had two of my favorite actresses (joan plowright and celia imrie). the remainder of the cast was very sub-standard, it seemed very low budget and it also looked like catherine zeta-jones wears dentures. sorry, but this was very off-putting and added to my disatisfaction. it in no way captured the haunting writing of thomas hardy.

Stick to the book
2008-07-30 - A script that even an all-star cast couldn't salvage...
Thomas Hardy being a favorite author, I believe that this masterpiece of a classic deserved so much better than this poorly-acted and presented piece that resembled nothing more than a day-time soap opera.

Nothing more than eye candy (the beautiful landscape coupled with Clive Owen and Catherine Zeta-Zones as a striking pair), the adaptation was mediocre at best, and quite honestly painful to watch in some scenes. Any hope of improvement as the film continued was abandoned as the final credits rolled.

Do yourself a favor and give "Return of the Native" a miss. Better yet, check out more faithful and worthy Hardy adaptations by the peerless BBC, such as "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", "The Mayor of Casterbridge", and "Far From the Madding Crowd" (a particular favorite) - all amazing films that I can say enough about.

Ok for a cheap thrill
2007-04-05 - I admit the only reason I got this was because it was inexpensive and I am a fan of Ray Stevenson from HBO's "ROME" as well as Clive Owen and my husband likes Catherine Zeta-Jones. It's the equivalent of a romance novel: light and forgettable but a guilty pleasure nonetheless.

An Excellent Object Lesson
2007-03-30 - Unlike the previous reviewer, I really liked this movie. It was a fascinating psychological study whether or not it was faithful to the book. Really, if you have read any of Thomas Hardy's books, you know that it would be impossible to turn any of them - even short ones like Jude the Obscure - into a movie shorter than 6 hours without having to sacrifice something! And who could stand that much suffering???

I admit that I'm particular to Catherine Zeta-Jones as she looks a lot like one of my daughters, and I think she did a fine job in this movie silently conveying inner passion and frustrated dreams. She is hypnotic and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Admittedly, Ray Stevenson was rather light and played his part like a kid playing at being an actor, but he was pretty much ignorable next to Catherine and Joan Plowright as his mother, and Steven Mackintosh as Diggory. In fact, Diggory comes across as the wisest and most stable person in the story.

In spite of the fact that it was made for TV, it was well-done and the scenery was beautiful. I've watched it twice with my children and used it as a jumping off point to discuss life and they enjoyed the movie and the discussion after!