Tags
1990's, Annabeth Gish, Ashley Judd, Bruce Beresford, Bruce Greenwood, Double Jeopardy, Thriller, Tommy Lee Jones
Film Title
Double Jeopardy
Director
Bruce Beresford
Starring
- Ashley Judd as Libby Parsons
- Tommy Lee Jones as Travis Lehman
- Bruce Greenwood as Nick Parsons/Jonathan Devereaux
- Annabeth Gish as Angie Green
If there was ever a film that was by the numbers and completely preposterous in the thriller genre, Double Jeopardy would probably take the title hands down. Filled with plot holes and too much time having to suspend belief, the only real saving grace of the film is Ashley Judd’s excellent performance that elevates it to at least being watchable.
Libby Parsons and her husband Nick are rich residents of Whidbey Island, Washington with their young son Matty. One weekend, Nick takes Libby sailing on a yacht he is borrowing from a friend. All seems tranquil until Libby wakes up covered in blood and with no sign of her husband. Once she gets to land, she is accused of murdering her husband and subsequently tried for this crime that she didn’t commit. Libby asks her best friend Angie to adopt her young son as she knows she will be imprisoned for a long time. At first out-of-place within the prison setting, the devastated Libby soon learns to survive. It is then that she inquires about her son having had no contact with him for weeks. Just as the last minutes of her call run out, she hears her son exclaim “Daddy”. Reeling from this, she realises that her husband is very much alive and faked his death, thereby putting her in the frame for his ‘murder’. Filled with rage, she begins to toughen up some more whilst in prison. She is given a valuable piece of information by a fellow inmate, according to a constitution in law known as Double Jeopardy, Libby can’t be tried for the same crime twice. Which means if she were to track Nick down and kill them, there is nothing the law could do about it. Libby is then released on parole after six years in prison . Until the constraints of gruff Parole Officer Travis Lehman, Libby searches for the whereabouts of her traitorous husband. Tracking him to Colorado, she skips town and goes after him with revenge in mind. Sure enough, Lehman is on her tail as her search leads her to New Orleans. Nothing else in the world matters in the world to Libby except getting her son back and exacting revenge on her slimy spouse for the pain he has put her through.
Now I must say that Bruce Beresford is a very talented director and he does manage to capture some thrilling sequences here, but not even this can bring clarity or memorability to this jumbled mess of a movie. Most of the problem with Double Jeopardy lies with the questionable script and pacing. The script throws in moments that are just to ludicrous to accept, such as Libby committing crimes once out of prison and leaving a trail of evidence in her wake for Lehman to follow her, rather than nimbly keeping a low profile in her search for her husband. The pace is almost non-existent with scenes just bleeding into the next with no passage of time or structure to back them up. Some of the legalities of the film are hard to understand and while some are addressed, they seem to be discarded with no explanation whatsoever. The music score to be fair to it adds at least a layer of mystery and suspense despite being somewhat clichéd.
What can’t be faulted in Double Jeopardy is the performance of Ashley Judd as the wronged Libby. She radiates rage and tough determination after learning of betrayal at the hands of her husband. Some of the actions her character takes are questionable, but Judd rises above these flaws to make Libby a character to sympathize with. Judd is clearly the most interesting thing on display within Double Jeopardy and certainly one of the few things to keep to it being watchable. Tommy Lee Jones, though overshadowed by Ashley Judd and underwritten, at least gives his part a little depth behind the angry exterior. For the brief time that he is on the screen, Bruce Greenwood gives us oily and sleazy charm as the traitorous Nick. I just felt that he could have featured more in the story and that way his character could have been memorable. The same goes for Annabeth Gish as Libby duplicitous friend, her character could have been interesting if the movie had taken the time to expand on the depth of her deception towards Libby.
Save for an impressive performance from Ashley Judd, Double Jeopardy is a muddled and forgettable thriller that had potential that wasn’t expanded upon.
beetleypete said:
I agree V. It’s an up-market afternoon film of the sort featuring on the ‘True Entertainment’ channel every day. I find the career of Tommy Lee Jones amazing too. He has been in some of the best (and many of the worst) films over the last 20-odd years essentially playing exactly the same part, but wearing different clothes. It’s not that I don’t like him, I just find it incredible how he has got away with it, and remains considered to be one of America’s heavyweight actors.
Hope you’re enjoying that holiday.
Regards from Norfolk. Pete.
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vinnieh said:
I can understand what you mean about Jones, he does seem to play similar parts. But he is very impressive in a lot of things. I’m not on holiday until Monday Pete, still got some time to review before then.
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alexraphael said:
Yeah, was really disappointed with this one. I like a good thriller. Shame as Judd really is a good actress.
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vinnieh said:
I totally agree, Judd was the shining light in this movie and elevated it to being watchable.
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sweetpea2love said:
Vinster, I can totally agree with your thoughts on this movie. I watched it for the main reason of Ashley Judd and the good old Tommy Lee Jones. It’s a good thing I don’t do reviews for movies, because I usually will pardon the bad script for the actors I love.. Great review by the way for this flick.. I look forward to reading your next blog to see what you think of the next movie..
Enjoy your weekend and thanking you kindly, once again for the comment and the follow..
Take care and happy reviewing to ya, from Laura ~
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vinnieh said:
Your thoughts are highly appreciated, thank you very much for commenting.
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sweetarchive said:
I never actually seen this film, but I guess I won’t now… Ashley Judd is beautiful and a very good actress. I’m quite fond of Tommy Lee Jones as well, but I’ll listen to you and sit this one out 🙂
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vinnieh said:
Probably best to sit it out, though Ashley Judd is very good in it.
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The Telltale Mind said:
I’ve seen this movie probably a half-dozen times and it is only because of Judd. Sure, it is a little formulaic and whatnot, but I find it to be a turn-your-brain-off-and-veg-out kind of movie.
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vinnieh said:
That’s a perfect description for it.
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Laura said:
The nicest thing I could say about this is that Ashley Judd is very pretty. This film is SO 90s it hurts!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks Laura, Ashley Judd is definitely stunning and really talented.
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vinnieh said:
And now I must sign off and continue packing for my holiday. Talk to you soon.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Great review Vinnie! When I first watched this I was expecting Tommy Lee Jones to be the standout, not Ashley Judd. Was I ever surprised. Still, it wasn’t a keeper for me.😕
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vinnieh said:
Hi Kim, thanks for commenting.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I hope you had a nice vacation!😎
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vinnieh said:
I did, you should check out my blogging return post.
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theipc said:
Nice work, Boss! I saw this a long time ago and don’t remember much about it….
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vinnieh said:
Thanks Eric, yeah it’s a pretty forgettable flick.
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emmakwall said:
Never seen this film Vinster! But your review was good, may have to change that 🙂
Miss you, hope you’re having a lovely holiday!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jordan Dodd said:
I’ve never seen it either, but it doesn’t look too bad and look kinda like my sorta thing. If I see it cheap I’ll rent it
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emmakwall said:
Ditto!! Hope you enjoy it if you do watch it Jordan 🙂 🙂
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vinnieh said:
Hey Emma, my blogging sister. I had a wonderful time, only just got back today.
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emmakwall said:
Glad you’re back and had a lovely time! 🙂
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Jordan Dodd said:
Hope you are enjoying your holiday mate. Its strange, the blogosphere feels like something is missing when you aren’t around!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for that Jordan, I really missed all of you while I was away.
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Jordan Dodd said:
Hope you had a good trip mate!
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vinnieh said:
Hi dude, it was a great holiday.
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Jordan Dodd said:
Good to hear mate! I can’t remember the last time I went on holiday… I have never even been abroad a single time! =/
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vinnieh said:
Then again Australia is a huge country, so I guess there’s a lot to see there.
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Jordan Dodd said:
Hahaha you would think so but no. Most of Australia is just hot, dry and barely inhabitable. That’s why every capital city is on the coast. I’ve been so most of out capital cities, not much to write home about. I really want to hit up the states and Canada. I wish I had a job!
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vinnieh said:
So most of Australia is just like the desert from the Mad Max movies then.
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Jordan Dodd said:
Pretty much man. Driest country in the world. There is a reason there isn’t a single capital city on the coast. The only the thing the middle of Australia has to offer is the giant rock, ‘Uluru’. Never seen it myself, that a giant rock is a tourist attraction here says how boring this country really is haha!
Though the Sydney opera House is pretty darn special. So is the Sydney harbour bridge. Honestly though, I think our best attraction is our nature. I don’t know if my photography gives you an idea, but it is beautiful and when you get far enough away from the city that you can’t hear any traffic….. god that is bliss!
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vinnieh said:
I gotta visit Australia in the future.
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Jordan Dodd said:
You should! We don’t have much in the way of tourist attractions, but I do firmly believe we have some beautiful nature surrounding us. Plus most of us are laid back, I’m sure you’d meet a ton of cool people.
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vinnieh said:
Sounds so cool. And plus I could see some Aussie beauties.
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Jordan Dodd said:
hehe yeah, you should come during summer. Girls wear practically nothing. Our summers are FUCKING HOT though, so its a trade off hehe.
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vinnieh said:
I’ll definitely come in the summer. Practically nothing you say.
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Jordan Dodd said:
Our beaches rock 😉 Summer is the best time to come here (our summer is your winter btw) if you can handle the heat and humidity. It can get pretty ridiculous but luckily the last summer wasn’t so bad.
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vinnieh said:
Sounds like it rocks.
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Jordan Dodd said:
It does 😀 best thing is just down the road from me is the beach with a massive area for dogs without a leash. My Brutus loves other dogs so he freakin loves the place!
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vinnieh said:
And on that note I must sign off for sleep.
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Jordan Dodd said:
Have a good one mate!
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Jay said:
Clearly I don’t remember much of this movie but Judd “radiating rage” as you put it sounds about right.
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vinnieh said:
Yeah, Judd is the thing that makes the movie watchable.
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TBM said:
I feel like I’ve seen this, but can’t remember one bit of it.
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vinnieh said:
It’s not exactly the most memorable movie.
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emmakwall said:
When you’ve finished gallivanting around on holiday 🙂 then you can complete your Dragon’s Loyalty award – which I have nominated you for. Thanks for all your support and friendship Vinster!
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vinnieh said:
Aww thanks Emma, will get around to doing the award very soon.
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emmakwall said:
🙂
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maddylovesherclassicfilms said:
This is what I call leave your brain at the door entertainment. Enjoyable enough with plenty of thrills and action, but a bit of a daft story. I like Tommy Lee and Ashley in this. The scene where she wakes up in a coffin is the stuff of nightmares.
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vinnieh said:
Daft but engrossing is the best way to describe it.
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