Double Jeopardy (1999) Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd, Bruce Greenwood, Annabeth Gish, Roma Maffia, Davenia McFadden, Jay Brazeau, Gillian Barber, Benjamin Weir, Spencer Treat Clark. Written by David Weisberg and Douglas S. Cook. Directed by Bruce Beresford. 105 minutes. Rated R, 1.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to pbbp24a@prodigy.com
For film buffs, there are few things more annoying than movie trailers that give away too much of the plot. The pinnacle of this peculiar form of marketing comes with the promotional campaign for "Double Jeopardy," a "Fugitive" knock-off starring Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones. If you've seen the commercials for the film, there's no need to visit the theater, because the ads are a veritable Cliffs Notes version of the thriller, spilling every major plot point of the story.
Here's what the ads reveal (SPOILER ALERT: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS THE ENTIRE PLOT). We open with Ashley Judd and Bruce Greenwood, sailing happily on a sunny day. Cut to night, as Ashley searches for her husband. She finds a bloody knife on the deck and picks it up, just in time for the Coast Guard to appear and order her not to move. Cut to a man informing the stunned Ashley that a $2 million insurance policy would certainly be considered motive for murder. Ashley exclaims "I didn't kill my husband!" Cut to Ashley in prison, as the announcer intones "In prison for a crime she didn't commit... " Cut to a woman answering the phone with Ashley's son at her side. Just as mother and child begin their tender phone reunion, we see the father walk in the door. The young lad happily shouts "Daddy!" Cut to a close up of Ashley, shocked beyond belief as she realizes the truth. Cut to a fellow inmate, who explains to Ashley that having already been committed of murdering her husband, she could now kill him without fear of legal repercussions, thanks to the "double jeopardy" rule that protects a defendant from being tried twice for the same crime. Cut to Ashley, out of prison, being pursued by Tommy Lee Jones. Cut to an elderly lady informing Ashley that the man she is searching for recently lost his new wife in a "tragic accident." Ashley nods knowingly. Cut to Tommy Lee, telling an officer "Did you ever arrest anybody you thought was innocent?" Cut to Ashley, confronting her husband while holding a gun in her hand and saying "I could shoot you in the middle of Mardi Gras and the cops couldn't do a thing." Cut to Tommy Lee, who tells the man "As a former law professor, I can assure you she's correct." The panicked hubby begs for help, only to have Tommy Lee smile wryly and say "Why are you talking to me? She has the gun." (END SPOILERS)
Sheesh!
For the benefit of those who skipped the spoiler section and didn't see the ads, the film, which starts in the Northwest and ends in New Orleans, is an idiotic potboiler, redeemed only slightly by pretty scenery, a couple of well-staged chase scenes and the presence of Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones (although why they are slumming in glossy trash like this is beyond me). "Double Jeopardy" is fun only as a guilty pleasure, one of those "so-bad-that-it's good" movies. Unless you're a fan of that genre, I suggest you simply watch the commercial and save 105 minutes of your life.
© 1999 Ed Johnson-Ott
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