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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Double Jeopardy
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 out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
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In this action/revenge movie, a clever woman goes after her
conniving husband after he frames her for his supposed murder. Ashley
Judd stars as the wife and mother who is wrongly imprisoned for
killing her husband. While serving her sentence at a Washington State
Prison, she discovers that her spouse is, in fact, living with another
woman and raising their son. In addition, she's told by another inmate
that she can't be tried twice for the same crime so, when she gets
released, she figures: Why not really murder the two-timing rat? The
vigilance of her parole officer, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is her
only obstacle. Directed by Bruce Beresford, strong and slender Ashley
Judd seems perfectly cast, yet she was not the first choice for this
plum part. Jodie Foster was supposed to do it until pregnancy forced
her to drop out. Tommy Lee Jones is stalwart, as always, doing the
relentless law enforcement officer gig which he perfected during "The
Fugitive," but Bruce Greenwood's husband part is just too slippery and
sleazy. But superficiality is the keynote of the slick, plot-heavy
screenplay by David Weisberg and Douglas S. Cook. As for the legal
question about whether Judd's character truly has a legal license to
kill, the answer is "no." Under the principle of double jeopardy, a
person cannot be tried twice for the same crime. But, if the crime was
really never committed, then the concept is invalid. On the Granger
Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Double Jeopardy" is an angry, violent 4. It's
an implausible, illogical but mildly intriguing thriller.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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