Doble traición

If you listen to the critics who knows where we would be. I

ignored the comments that this was another Fugitive only a female version, but found the movie fast paced and well acted by Tommy Lee Jones and Ashley Judd, as well as the whole cast. I liked the story line and it was exciting and the time just flew by. Go see it you will enjoy it!!!!

Their definition of double jeopardy is so wrong that it insults intelligence. DJ protects a person, presumably found innocent the first trial, from being retried for that SAME crime. SAME ...as in same victim, same day, same circumstance. Not SAME victim but DIFFERENT day, circumstance. Using their interpretation of DJ, I could assault someone, be tried and go to prison, get released, and go assault that person again and get off scott free. Maybe a small legal point to most viewers, but I prefer to watch movies that don't make me scoff at the stupidity of the central premise. That said, the action is decent.

Not that it's a horrible movie, but it was certainly nothing new. I didn't find a single surprise in the movie and overall found it to be almost boring.

I thought Ashley Judd and pretty good as was Bruce Greenwood. Tommy Lee Jones was OK, although his character was weak and never really developed.

As for the story, it's a good idea, but the execution leaves something lacking. There were no surprises in the story (something very important in a "thriller"). Without the twists and turns expected in a good thriller, the story seems to just meander to the inevitable ending. I (as did the group of people I was with) knew the ending about 15 minutes into the movie. There was no suspense of "who did it" or "will he get away with it".

All that can really be said about "Double Jeopardy" is that it had potential--great cast and good story idea. However, it just never came together. Part of this might be attributed to the marketing of the movie. As an example, "The Sixth Sense", released just a few weeks prior, managed to keep the ending a (sort of) secret, until it was seen. With "Double Jeopardy" though, the viewer goes into the theater knowing who did it and able to guess the ending without much thought.

In the Whidbey Island, Libby (Ashley Judd) is happily married with her husband Nick Parsons (Bruce Greenwood) and their son Matty. Nick is having financial problems but promises to Libby to buy a sailboat if she likes her. They go to sail in the vessel while Libby's best friend Angie (Annabeth Gish) stays with Matty. During the night, Libby and Nick drink wine and make love. When Libby wakes up, she and the boat are covered with blood and Nick is missing. She finds the galley's knife on the deck and out of the blue, the US Coast Guard arrives. They unsuccessfully look for Nick's body and later Libby is becomes the prime suspect to kill her husband to receive an insurance policy and is sentenced to prison. Angie and Matty stop visiting Libby and she finds that her best friend has moved to San Francisco. She calls her from the prison and finds that Nick is alive by chance and living with Angie. Libby befriends her cellmate Margaret (Roma Maffia), who is a former lawyer, and she gives advices to Libby. Six years later, Libby is on probation under the care of her tough officer and former lawyer and Professor Travis (Tommy Lee Jones). But she is determined to find Matty, Angie and Nick.

"Double Jeopardy" is a flawed, but entertaining thriller. There are no explanations for many situations, like, for example, the blood on the vessel and in Libby's clothes, or how a public persona can be so invisible. But the plot is engaging and if the viewer shutdown the brain for the flaws, will centainly enjoy this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Risco Duplo" ("Double Risk")

Elizabeth Parsons has a rich husband and a young son. When she wakes up on their luxury yacht with blood everywhere and her husband nowhere to be found, she is suspected of his murder to get the life insurance. While serving 6 years, she discovers that her husband is very much alive. She learns that she can't be tried for his murder since she already has been, and begins to plan his death and how to get her husband back.

Despite that fact that the whole film is summed up in the title I decided to watch it anyway. So really there is very little drama for much of the film as we all know what she's doing and where the film is going. The plot could have been lifted from any number of video thrillers - all it needed was a little nudity and it could have been an erotic thriller for late night TV! As it stood, the bigger budget, higher production values and bigger stars helped the film actually rise a little above the material and seem to be much glossier and impressive than it actually was. The stunts and effects worked well and the direction was of a higher calibre than you'd see on the bottom shelf, but it is still a very ordinary thriller if you strip all the polish away.

The cast try hard but they have little to work with. An unnecessary role from Tommy Lee Jones helps keep the film's pace up by turning it into a cat and mouse chase of sorts, but mostly it is pretty dull. Judd is OK in the lead but doesn't do anything to justify her fee I reckon. Support from Mafia is so lame that it looks like she is almost falling asleep while giving her lines! The film relies on pace and tension which it mostly gets by flipping cars around for little reason and for putting Elizabeth in slightly (!) unlikely situations then getting her out of them. The legal interest in the plot actually falls to pieces when you think about it, but the film is clever enough never to take it's central idea further than a few lines of dialogue before rendering the argument null and void.

Overall I was struck by just how ordinary and dull the whole film was. If I had seen this film as a low budget video thriller I still wouldn't have liked it but I may have accepted it for what it is. This film just exposed it's own weaknesses by virtue of pushing to be a product much grander than it's plot deserved.