Double Jeopardy
Official Paramount Pictures Site

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd, Bruce Greenwood, Annabeth Gish, Roma Maffia, Davenia McFadden
Category: Action-Drama
Rating: R

Double Jeopardy was very entertaining. Of course, seeing it in Mann's Chinese Theater didn't hurt. Wondering who had possibly put their posterior where mine currently resided took up all the preview time - then the movie started and I put my wondering away. The ad said, "Murder Isn't Always a Crime." The movie proved it.

Starring Tommy Lee Jones, you can't help but compare this one to his other chase-me films, The Fugitive and U.S. Marshals. But Jones' parol officer Travis Lehman is a lot less in control here, dependent on the bottle and stoically bemoaning the loss of his family. I wish they had developed Lehman more. As much as I love seeing Tommy Lee Jones barking orders, the forlorn look he kept giving his daughter's picture was infinitely more interesting.

Also starring Ashley Judd (Kiss the Girls, A Time to Kill, Heat), who reminds one of Meg Ryan in her ability to keep you looking - without hating her, that is. Judd plays Libby Parsons, in love with her husband and wrongly accused of his murder. Her devotion to her young son is the driving force behind the majority of the plot, and Judd is convincing as determined mom.



If you have any kind of legal background or more than a passing acquaintance with how the justice system works (watch a lot of Court TV?), hang your hat at the theater door. So much is glossed over in Double Jeopardy, it will make your head spin. The best parts are the chase scenes - and Jones is finally chasing a woman, so hang on for the ride!

Apart from not enough Jones, and having to suspend disbelief on most of the legal stuff, Double Jeopardy also cheats on the ending. The Mann's Chinese audience agreed with me - they actually laughed. But I don't know what else could have been done. Without giving anything away (not my style), it's like the screenwriter died right before he wrote the ending. Go see it anyway, and visit the Official Site to take their Gender & The Law poll.

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