TV watcher

Double Jeopardy

review by Orlando C. Fernando

October 24, 1999

Storyline: 8 (0=worst, 10=best)
Originality: 9
Acting: 8
Special Effects: 0
Overall: B+/A- (F=worst, A=best)

You think you have a wonderful husband and a complete family. You spend a romantic getaway with him in your dream boat. The next morning you wake up with blood on your hands and no husband on board. You are shortly tried and convicted for killing your husband. You find out that your husband framed you so that he can live rich off of your insurance. A legal clause states that you cannot be tried twice for the same crime - double jeopardy. You want revenge on your husband. What do you do? This sets the stage for the movie.

A lthough the clause in reality is preposterous and misinterpreted, it is adequate to set the mystery, drama, and suspense for this movie. A woman (Ashley Judd) must find out the whereabouts of her husband (Bruce Greenwood) so that she can get revenge and take back her son Matty. In the course of the hunt, she breaks her parole which sets off her parole officer (Tommy Lee Jones) to go after her.

T he lovely Ashley Judd once again takes a role where she exhibits her two strongest qualities - romance and pure terror. Like Sandra Bullock in "The Net", she thrives here on playing the innocent victim. It seems she is too calm on certain occasions, but overall she makes us feel her pain. Tommy Lee Jones is also in good form here. Once again, he plays a by-the-rules officer in a "Fugitive"like drama.

C lues build as the movie progresses forming the big picture, and that's what keeps us hooked to the suspense. Add to that Ashley's character's various escapades as she uncovers each truth. She even had to mention her parole to a flirty college student in a library to leave her alone! The final results have pleasant surprises. A good suspense for an afternoon or evening show and worth any price of admission. What results from a false murder, a gun in hand, and "double jeopardy"?

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