Netflix Instant Queue Movie Review: "Double Jeopardy" (1999)

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Movie: "Double Jeopardy"
Director: Bruce Beresford
Year: 1999
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Libby (Ashley Judd) is falsely accused of murdering her husband Nick (Bruce Greeneood) while on a boating trip. She is convicted and spends 6 years in prison before being paroled. While in prison, she learned that her husband is still alive and he and her best friend Angie (Annabeth Gish) framed her to get insurance money and to clear all of his debts. She breaks parole to track down her husband, clear her name, and get her son back. All the while, she is pursued by her parole officer Travis (Tommy Lee Jones), who is ready to send her back to prison. 

The film is titled "Double Jeopardy" because a character claims that since Libby was already framed for murdering her husband and served her time once, she can now kill him at will and would be protected by the double jeopardy law in the constitution. We're not lawyers, but we're pretty sure it doesn't work like that. But despite it being the title of the film, it's not really a huge part of the story overall, so the fact that it's not true doesn't hurt it too much. This movie is a rather formulaic crime thriller, and not a great one at that. You have a wrongfully convicted person who goes on the lamb to clear their name while being tracked down by a law officer, usually played by Tommy Lee Jones (see: "The Fugitive," "U.S. Marshals," this film, etc). While this can be a compelling scenario alone, this particular movie lacks the same spark, as this type of film has been done before and done better.

This was a film made at a time when the internet was just coming out en masse. It is always funny to see just how bad the internet was as little as 15 years ago. The acting is decent enough with Judd as the once timid, trusting and confused woman transforming into a much more bold and jaded woman willing to do what she must to clear her name. Tommy Lee Jones plays a fast-talking law man, a role he has done numerous times in the past. The rest of the cast is rather interchangeable, just reading the lines necessary to drive the plot forward. Overall, the film has it's fair share of flaws. Though it does have a few suspenseful and intense moments to keep you entertained, unfortunately, these moments are not enough to keep audiences entrenched in this is a very middle of the road thriller.

My Rating: 5.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 25%
Do we recommend this movie: Meh