Ashley Judd plays Libby Parsons, happily married to
successful Seattle businessman Nick Parsons (Bruce Greenwood). Theirs is a
storybook union, which usually means in a film like this that things will be
going south pretty soon. Nick takes Libby out on a sailboat that he's planning
on buying for her. Libby, an avid sailor, takes charge while her landlubber
husband enjoys the ride out on the high seas, and as expected, everything is
hunky-dory--until Libby wakes up wearing a bloodstained robe, with a trail of
blood running through the boat, leading to a bloodied knife on the deck (which
Libby stupidly picks up). Nick is nowhere to be seen either on board the boat or
in the water.
The investigation goes badly for Libby. It turns out that Nick called the Coast
Guard and told them that he had been stabbed before the call abruptly got cut
off. With this kind of evidence stacked against her, Libby is convicted of Nick's
murder (although there's no body, he was ruled as legally dead before the trail
began). Libby is sentenced to prison, but before she goes, she asks her best
friend Angie (Annabeth Gish) to adopt her young son Matty. Matty is what keeps
Libby sane during her years in prison with his visits and his phone calls. But
one day, Libby loses all contact with her son and Angie. Tracking Angie down
over the phone--she traces Angie through her former job--Libby finds Angie and
Matty in San Francisco and she also discovers that her dead husband Nick is
alive, well, and living with them.
It's at this point that Double Jeopardy really takes off, as Libby must now try
and track down a dead man and get her son back from him. Ashley Judd is
excellent in this film; her sympathetic, determined performance is what truly
propels this film forward as the viewer cheers her on through the various
obstacles that she must overcome. Although she receives second billing, this is
really Ashley's movie. Tommy Lee Jones, always a fine actor, pretty much
sleepwalks through his part as Libby's parole officer. He's basically playing
the same character he played in the movie version of The Fugitive--tracking down
yet another escaped felon--only without the humor. And while it has its moments
of overwrought drama that seem better suited to a TV soap opera, Double Jeopardy
is still smart, fast-paced and fun. Think of it as being sort of like one of
those Lifetime cable movies, only with more brains and a lot more style, thanks
to director Bruce Beresford, who always manages to keep things interesting. The
DVD is sparse by way of special features, offering just the trailer and a
'making of' featurette that is strictly by the numbers. But if you're looking
for an enjoyable action film that's basically a female version of The Fugitive,
then give Double Jeopardy a shot. --SF
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