Double Jeopardy (1999)

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writers (WGA):

David Weisberg (written by) &
Douglas Cook (written by)

Release Date:

24 September 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama | Mystery | Crime

Tagline:

Murder isn't always a crime.

Plot:

A woman framed for her husband's murder suspects he is still alive; as she has already been tried for the crime, she can't be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.

Plot Keywords:

Femme Fatale | Female Nudity | Faked Death | Mistaken Identity | Art

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Travis Lehman
Ashley Judd	...	Elizabeth 'Libby' Parsons
Benjamin Weir	...	Matty Parsons, Age 4
Jay Brazeau	...	Bobby Long
Bruce Greenwood	...	Nicholas 'Nick' Parsons
John Maclaren	...	Rudy
Ed Evanko	...	Warren (as Edward Evanko)
Annabeth Gish	...	Angela 'Angie' Green
Bruce Campbell	...	Bartender at Party
Brennan Elliott	...	Yuppie Man
Angela Schneider	...	Yuppie Girl
Michael Gaston	...	Cutter
Gillian Barber	...	Rebecca Tingely
Tom McBeath	...	Coast Guard Officer
David Jacox	...	Deputy Ben

Also Known As:

Doppelmord (Germany)
Double condamnation (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, a scene of sexuality and some violence.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Germany | Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34724) | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Mexico:B | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

British Columbia Production Tax Credit

Trivia:

Bruce Greenwood fakes his death to frame his wife while out at sea on a yacht. He does exactly the same in the film Bitter Vengeance (1994) (TV).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Seattle Police officers are only authorized to wear a turtleneck or tie when wearing a long sleeve uniform shirt (never a white T-shirt). The badge is nowhere close to the actual badge worn by SPD officers. The name tags are black, not silver (almost always cloth sew-on type) and should be worn on the right breast pocket 1/2 inch below the top of the pocket flap.

Quotes:

Bobby: I'm a lawyer, what we think isn't supposed to matter.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "SexTV: Romain Slocombe/Spreading Misandry/Carolyn Weltman (#5.12)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Juicy Lucy

Hit play on the remote, but hit pause on your brain.

Suspension of disbelief is put to the ultimate test in this cat-and-mouse chase thriller. Judd plays a wealthy wife and mother, living in a waterfront home where she bonds with her sweet little son. When her husband (Greenwood) surprises her with a luxurious sailboat and takes her on a romantic jaunt, she begins to believe that their once-shaky relationship is on the right course. However, when she awakens in the middle of the night covered in blood and alone, she soon finds herself the target of a murder investigation. From this moment on, virtually everything that occurs in the film is preposterous in the extreme. Ludicrously, she is found guilty of murder, even more ludicrously, she only serves 6 years for it and most ludicrously, when she finds out that Greenwood isn't even dead, she believes that since she has already "killed" him once and been tried for it, she can do it again and not be prosecuted! The entire premise and title of the film is completely inane and impossible! That said, the result is still a fairly gripping and intriguing experience. One is advised to completely abandon all notions of logic and reality in order to wring some enjoyment out of the proceedings. Almost nothing that Judd's character does is either plausible or sensible. She finds out her husband is alive only a month or so after being sent to prison, yet she rots for 6 years and never seeks any sort of legal aid? Her stint in prison is laughable. Two burly bitches, who likely would be raping her nightly, instead bake her birthday cakes for her missing son. She is out of the clink about 25 seconds when she is missing her curfew and breaking and entering a schoolhouse. She then breaks away from her parole officer (Jones) and is on the run all over the US from then on, desperately trying to retrieve her son and kill her "dead" husband. Jones is somehow able to completely abandon his post in order to follow her everywhere she goes. Scene after scene of thoroughly unbelievable and unrealistic situations come up. And the biggest surprise of all? Somehow Jones and Judd make it work! This film was a big crowd-pleaser and, in fact, it does provide a considerable amount of entertainment. Jones is just playing a less-confident, less-powerful version of his Oscar-winning role in "The Fugitive", but he does it well. Judd somehow manages to take the audience with her (especially the female audience) as she single-mindedly pursues her cretin of a husband. Greenwood does an effective job as the deplorable spouse. The outcome of the film is predetermined. The story is so full of holes it actually hurts. Yet the film still comes through out of sheer audience manipulation and actors' charisma. It was downright shocking to see Judd, in a DVD featurette, asserting how rock solid the story is. This woman is going to want some serious help with script choices if she plans to remain a star (and if "Twisted" is any indication, she's on the wrong path!)