90s Movie Review - Double Jeopardy

Director: Bruce Beresford
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Annabeth Gish, Bruce Campbell

Description: Libby (Ashley Judd) is framed for her husband’s murder, but suspects he (Bruce Greenwood) is still alive. As she has already been tried for the crime, she can’t be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.

Review: Libby Parsons is crazy about sailing and gets a sailboat from her husband Nick, which they go out on together. One day on the boat, Libby wakes up in the middle of the night covered in blood and Nick is nowhere to be found. Libby is accused of murdering her husband and she is sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Before she is locked up in jail, she asks her best friend Angela to adopt her young son Matty. Angela agrees and she promises to visit Libby regularly. However, Angela only shows up once and Libby never hears from her again. From prison, Libby finds out that Angela has moved to San Francisco and she manages to reach her on the phone. Libby also manages to talk to Matty and during that conversation she finds out that Nick is still alive. She can’t do anything because of being locked up. Her friends in prison encourage her and she learns that once she is released, she can kill her husband without mercy because she cannot be convicted of the same crime a second time. It's called a double jeopardy.
After six years, Libby is released and must behave impeccably for the next three years, without breaking her parole, or else she can be sent back to prison. She reports to her probation officer Travis Lehman, who warns her once again to behave properly. But Libby has just one goal in mind: to find her son at all costs.
“Double Jeopardy” has many similarities to such films as “The Fugitive” and “US Marshalls” in which Tommy Lee Jones likewise takes up the pursuit of a criminal who later turns out to be innocent. Although Jones’ role is not as weighty as in the aforementioned films, he plays the role of Travis convincingly. The same can be said by Ashley Judd. I have always liked her as an actress.
“Double Jeopardy” is an all-round enjoyable crime thriller. The fact is that the story itself is not new. The film is very similar to other films in the genre. But despite this fact, the film remains captivating from beginning to end, partly due to good acting. I enjoyed it.

Rating: 3,5/ 5