Review by Lars Lindahl (larsattacks@mail.com)
"Double Jeopardy" (1999) * (out of four)
Tommy Lee Jones chases an innocent victim around America who is trying to prove that she did not kill her spouse. The Fugitive? Not quite…This is the plot for Double Jeopardy, another Fugitive copycat without the action, excitement, and good acting that the original had. There are other slight differences besides one movie being bad and the other good; this time Tommy Lee Jones plays a parole officer not a US Marshall, clever huh? Oh and the fugitive Ashley Judd was framed by her own husband (Bruce Greenwood) who needed to collect two million dollars in life insurance money not a one armed man. Both movies are on video. Make the wise choice and pick The Fugitive.
There are so many flaws in Double Jeopardy, it is laughable. While serving time in prison, Libby Parsons (Judd) discovers that she can never be charged for committing the same crime twice. Learning that her husband is still alive, she decides to serve her time in prison, find him, retrieve her son, and kill her husband if necessary. When the strict Parole Officer Travis Lehman (Jones) stands in her way, Libby decides to break the rules (who knows why?) and continue her plan, despite the fact that if she gets caught, she's going back to jail.
Director Bruce Beresford spends way too much time trying to convince the audience that Libby misses her son. Every other scene, we are given a shot of Libby staring and crying at his picture. In an action movie like this, valuable time wasted on these shots takes away more opportunities for Libby to get up and do something. All that is needed in this type of movie is a short scene in which Libby tells herself or a friend "I miss my son." Nothing more, nothing less. Dr. Kimble of The Fugitive didn't look at one picture of his dead wife, his primary concern was to save himself. Libby at times shows this same determination but not nearly enough.
Ashley Judd and Bruce Greenwood both are excellent actors but if they continue to do movies like this, they will be typecast for the rest of their careers, kind of like their doomed co-star Tommy Lee Jones. Winning an Oscar for The Fugitive must have convinced Jones that audiences will never get tired of his I-do-my-job-whether-they-are-innocent-or-guilty roles. People still pay to see his movies and he makes plenty of money so I guess he was right. Though I don't think he will win another Oscar again.
The ultimate mistake in the script is what eventually becomes of Libby Parsons. Even if she was excused for disobeying her Parole Officer, the number of other crimes she commits while on the run are too numerous to count. Burglary, assault, grand theft auto are some of Libby's slipups. The message of the movie is you can break all of the small laws as long as you're innocent of the major crime. Hopefully criminals won't use Double Jeopardy as a reference in court for why they are innocent. That would just be plain stupid.
Grade: * (out of four)
Lars Attacks! A teenager attacks past and present cinema http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/larsattacks
larsattacks@mail.com (c) 2000 Lars Lindahl
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