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Review by GaryW
2 stars out of 4
At first, the previews for Double Jeopardy made the film look pretty
good. But then I wondered whether these previews had given
away the whole movie and whether the movie would have more going
for it than its interesting premise. Unfortunately, the answer
to these two question is yes and then no (rather than in
the other order!). This movie is supposed to be a thriller,
but the key elements of the plot are known by anyone who has seen the
trailer or one of the promotional commercials. For the first third of
the movie I kept thinking this might be somewhat interesting, if I
didn't already know exactly what was going on. During
this part of the movie, there is no suspense whatsoever.
Unfortunately, there are many other problems with the movie. Most
importantly, the characters are not fully developed, and, worse for a
thriller, the plot is about as straightforward as you could
posssibly get. Please let me know if there is a single
major surprise anywhere in this movie. While Ashley Judd's
performance is okay, I found her character to be unbelievable, due to
weaknesses in the script. We are to believe her character
undergoes some kind of transformation during the movie, especially
during her stint in prison, but the main way this is demonstrated is by
us seeing her do laps around the prison yard in the rain while another
inmate intones "that woman must be driven by pure hate".
This is how character development is handled in the movie. I
would have preferred her to become a much darker (and interesting)
figure-- and perhaps really torment her former husband. In fact, this
is what I expected based on the trailer. Unfortunately, none of this
happens. Tommy Lee Jones provides an adequate performance,
but though his character is more human (i.e., flawed) than in
the superior "Fugitive" thriller, I still felt he was playing
essentially the same character, which by now is getting quite
tiring. Perhaps the movie could have been saved by an effective bad
guy, but Bruce Greenwood's character and performance is
extremely bland and uninvolving.
Even with all of these flaws, the movie doesn't fail completely. There
are several exciting action scenes which make the movie tolerable.
Also, parts of Ashley Judd's performance are quite effective. However,
these cannot hide the fact that this movie is, ultimately, an
extremely mediocre thriller, without a single major surprise. If you
have seen the good movies out there (like American Beauty and Three
Kings) and it is a rainy day, this movie might be worth the price of
a bargain matinee.
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