Country: United States
Genre: Drama/Suspense
Director: Bruce Beresford
Year: 1999
Rating: 
WORTH A LOOK
Considering that Double Jeopardy is basically a warmed over Lifetime movie of the week, it’s better than it needs to be.
Pretty much at the get go, you know what the plot is going to be even before it happens. In the opening scenes we establish that Nick (Bruce Greenwood) is smart, snotty, and having business problems. Since Nick isn’t a man’s man, like Bruce Willis, and is instead one of those pansy intellectuals (he actually knows who the painter Kandinsky is), we know that he must be e-vil.
Which brings up the first problem with the movie. His wife Libby (Ashley Judd) is presented as being a perfectly ordinary housewife and mother, with no intellectual pretensions or curiosity and no obvious education beyond high school. Mind you, that doesn’t mean she’s stupid, just average. There is no way in hell she and Nick would be together. They have absolutely nothing in common except that they have hot sex together, and believe me, that isn’t enough. Their relationship constitutes a great big gaping hole in the credibility of the movie. Why didn’t screenwriters David Weisberg and Douglas Cook give Libby more intellectual heft, so that it would make sense that she was with Nick? Because then she wouldn’t be a suitable fantasy substitute for the average American woman, which is the target audience for this flick.
On with the plot.
We just know that Nick is going to screw over his wife Libby (Ashley Judd), leave her holding the bag, and steal their son Matty. Eventually, Libby is going to come looking for Nick, not for revenge, but to get her son back. Yep, that’s the kind of movie this is. Pure chick flick. You see, women as an audience aren’t into revenge, or at least that’s what the Hollywood suits think.
Probably to rope in the male moviegoing audience, Tommy Lee Jones reprises a version of his The Fugitive character, except this time, he’s an alky with a tragic past.
Now, I’m not going to lie to you. Director Bruce Beresford does about as well with this script and concept as anyone could. The action scenes have a nice snap to them, and several chases generate a decent amount of suspense. Beresford coaxes strong performances out of all of the leads.
What’s more, the script gives us well-written characters for the most part, maybe too much so in the case of Nick, the lead character. In the opening scenes, Nick seems to be too complex and real for this type of genre story, but as soon as the plot is set into motion, he obediently becomes 2-dimensional.
The script also has several original set pieces. In one, Libby tries to escape from the custody of the Tommy Lee Jones character while she’s handcuffed to a car on a ferry. Another involves a unique form of claustrophobia — you’ll know it when you see it.
The real problem with Double Jeopardy is that the filmmakers are duty bound to obey the ironclad rules of chick flicks. A female hero can’t be cultured or intellectual. The female protagonist must never kill anyone unless there is no other choice, and they must absolutely never enjoy committing violence. What’s more, the villain cannot die in a satisfying manner because that would disturb the delicate sensibilities of the average American woman.
These requirements pour ice cold water on what should be the revenge bonfire of Double Jeopardy, which is a shame.
One more problem, and it’s kind of a big one. A major linchpin of the plot requires that a person convicted of murdering their spouse be allowed to collect on a two million dollar insurance policy on that spouse. This would obviously never happen. What’s inexcuseable is that, with a little thought from the screenwriters, it would have worked just as well to have the claim be denied.
It’s such a pity. Double Jeopardy could have been the rare chick flick thriller that worked. Instead, the filmmakers dumbed it down for the (c)hicks in the sticks. Sadly, their gambit worked. Double Jeopardy grossed $116 million in theatrical release in the United States alone, proving once again that you can’t underestimate the intelligence of the American public.
If you found this post helpful, share it by clicking on one of these icons!
Related posts:
- In The Electric Mist - Mystery Meat Gumbo
- High Crimes - Feminine Entitlement Fantasies
- The Contract - Crisp Action Visuals Spoiled By Sub Tarantino Dialog
- The Fugitive - No Imagination Required
