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Young Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) is happy as a clam, and why not? She's got a loving, successful husband (Bruce Greenwood), an adorable son, and an island home to die for. One morning, after a romantic sailing expedition with her husband, Libby finds herself covered in blood. Her husband's missing, the boat resembles a murder scene, and there's a knife on the deck. One might stop right there and call for help; Libby, however, takes matters--or, more specifically, the knife--into her own hands, and the moment she does, there's the Coast Guard. Faster than you can say frame-up, Libby's been charged with murder and jailed, with her young son stripped from her custody. It's all cut-and-dried, except for one thing: Libby's husband isn't dead, and she's about to track him down. And thanks to the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy rule, she can't be charged twice for his murder.
Double Jeopardyhas a singularly seductive revenge premise and, in Judd, one of the most seductive leading ladies to grace the silver screen in recent years. So then why does this thriller feel like it came from the bottom of the Lifetime television movie barrel? Instead of taking a gritty, hard-boiled approach, the film plays up all of Libby's mushy emotions--tellingly, the director here is Bruce Beresford, whose best film,Driving Miss Daisy, is as far from thriller territory as you can get. No matter how stoically or deviously Judd plays her, Libby comes across as a soccer mom with a slight taste for blood. Only in a few scenes, specifically when she tracks her wily husband to his new identity in New Orleans, does Judd get to strut her stuff, stealing an evening gown and crashing his charity auction. Most of the time, though, this thriller offers only a smattering of suspense. Well, at least like Libby, the filmmakers can't be condemned twice for the same crime. With Tommy Lee Jones duplicating hisFugitiverole, as Libby's conscientious parole officer.--Mark Englehart
Murder and Intrigue Double Jeopardy A new twist on a classic murder story. Usually it is the wife that is murdered, or disappears. Here the husband is murdered, and his wife is convicted for the murder. She was asleep at the time, and knew nothing. But the bloody circumstantial evidence is irrefutable. [Did they check the DNA of the bloodstains, and whether it had EDTA as a preservative?] Libby's best friend adopts her child, and is given control of the $2 million trust fund. Libby is convicted and sent to prison.
Libby makes a phone call to her best friend, and hears her son say "Daddy"; no body was ever found. Libby gets parole, but escapes to track her friend. She finds out that her friend died in an explosion at home, her husband and son moved away. Knowing of her husband's art interests, she tracks him down. Converting stolen money into art work for later sale seems to leave no trail for the IRS. [Is this a tax loophole for the super-rich?]
Libby tracks down her husband by his current name to New Orleans. Her parole officer is on her trail, but keeps missing her. Libby shows her savoir-faire by ordering an expensive dress that allows her entry to the soiree; her prison education? Her husband Nick fools her in a cemetery, and dumps her into a coffin. Locked in a coffin, she uses a handy tool to escape. There is an action-filled ending, where the villain is stopped before he can kill again. Libby will get a pardon, and rejoin her son. Overall, a good film with a happy ending. But could her husband have begun a new rich life in New Orleans so easily? Aren't the wealthy suspicious of the nouveau riche?
Double Jeopardy (1999) Director: Bruce Beresford Cast: Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Benjamin Weir, Jay Brazeau, Bruce Greenwood. Running Time: 93 minutes. Rated R for violence, language, and simulated sex.
While not the most intelligent or original of thrillers, "Double Jeopardy" manages to squeak out as much positive energy from a fairly mediocre script and only adequate direction due to its solid starring cast. The life of Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) was going perfectly. She had a beautiful boy with her extremely successful husband (Bruce Greenwood). While on a second honeymoon trip on their yacht, Libby has her life turned upside down when she realizes that her husband has been murdered. To make matters even worse, Libby is the only suspect in the case and is charged with murder and sentenced to jail.
Knowing that she was not the killer, Libby waits out her time in jail until her parole. She learns that her son has been taken into custody and suspects that her husband may not even be dead after all. Her parole officer, the gritty Travis Lehman (played by the dependable Tommy Lee Jones), stays on her like a hawk, but she manages to escape out of his grasp in search of the truth--she knows that her husband is still alive and she will do whatever it takes to get her perfect life back--even if she has to kill her "dead" husband. Lehman stays one step behind her, attempting to catch her before she can do anymore damage. Judd and Jones are a supremely entertaining pair, but unfortunately they are not together on screen much during the last half of the film. Greenwood is exceptional as the conniving worm of a husband. Nothing too special, "Double Jeopardy" is a fine film to catch on the television if it pops onto NBC or CBS on the weekends. Luckily, the film does not spend any time actually debating the validity of the double jeopardy clause--maybe we'll get lucky and that argument will be present in a sequel. Not recommended This was a long way to go to get to see mother and son reunite. So many scenes that would make a great cartoon. For instance, leave the convict in the car with the keys? why do that? he may as well left the keys to the handcuffs also, if he did it would have lessened the torture of watching it. Judd should focus on other types of movies. she's not a super hero. The only saving grace was that Tommy Lee Jones was in it.
