Despite all the flaws in logic and legal proceedings, Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones make this movie an enjoyable watch. The premise is kind of ridiculous, but their charisma and performances keep you engaged. I'd actually forgotten a lot about this film since the first time I saw it, so it was fun to revisit it again.
Double Jeopardy
1999
Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Double Jeopardy
1999
Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller
Plot summary
Framed for the murder of her husband, Libby Parsons survives the long years in prison with two burning desires sustaining her -- finding her son and solving the mystery that destroyed her once-happy life. Standing between her and her quest; however, is her parole officer, Travis Lehman. Libby poses a challenge to the cynical officer, one that forces him to face up to his own failings while pitting him against his superiors and law enforcement colleagues.
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May 23, 2020 at 07:13 AM
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Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones make it worth watching
A Murder On The State?
It's unfortunate that poor Ashley Judd met all kinds of good legal help after she was convicted of murdering Bruce Greenwood in Double Jeopardy. Where was it when she was on trial?
Ashley Judd is the wife of Bruce Greenwood a successful developer and they seem to be a rich and happy couple. But Greenwood's been overextending himself credit wise and he's in a real bind. One night on board they're yacht after a night of passion, he seemingly falls overboard after a violent struggle and leaves an incriminating 911 call.
Who else could it incriminate but Judd and she's tried and convicted of her husband's murder. Her best friend Annabeth Gish adopts her son, but then Judd discovers that Gish has moved out of their Seattle area and then she inadvertently finds out that her husband is still alive. It takes six years, but she's granted a parole, but she's not about to wait in a halfway house. She's busts her parole and goes on the hunt with her parole officer Tommy Lee Jones on her trail.
Her legal advice comes from Jones, a former law professor and Roma Maffia a disbarred attorney she meets in the joint. If these two had been her attorneys she might have been acquitted. Maffia especially gives a memorable performance in a very small role.
Double Jeopardy has a number of flaws in it. Firstly if I had been Bruce Greenwood I sure would have fled the country with my ill gotten gains and not lived so public a lifestyle as he does. Could not wrap my head around his recklessness. Also Judd specifically does not want her son to go to her mother because they didn't get along. Yet it's mom played by Anna Hagan comes through in the end for her with quite a roll of bills to help her in her pursuit of Greenwood. And the whole concept of what Double Jeopardy means is open to question. I recall a Law And Order episode where someone was killed by a person who had committed a crime for which they had not done the deed and most emphatically that did not grant him the newly freed perpetrator a murder on the state.
It's unfortunate because I think Double Jeopardy had a role lot of potential that was wasted.
Could be better
DOUBLE JEOPARDY is an acceptable thriller from 1999 but more of a routine way to end the decade than the likes of THE MATRIX, which must have made this feel very staid by comparison. It's another opportunity for Tommy Lee Jones to show off his hunting prowess, this time tracking down former convict Ashley Judd who's on a mission to solve a conspiracy surrounding her husband's mysterious death. This film pales in comparison to THE FUGITIVE and U.S. MARSHALS, although it has some fun action set-pieces shoehorned into the plot here and there. However, the main mystery story has ludicrous holes and is frankly unbelievable when you start considering it too much. Judd is also one of the coldest actresses from the era, and the ending smacks of safe predictability. Could be better...