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Too many "implausibles" spoil an potentially good film.

This is really my kind of movie, with good action and a plot that keeps you guessing as to exactly where the story is going. Tommy Lee Jones is right at home as he pursues his latest fugitive; and Ashley Judd once again plays the strong, independent female. Two of my favorite actors doing what they do best.While I am more that willing to allow for some dramatic license, I was really distracted at times by events in the movie that were too far removed from the way things happen and the way people act in the real world. The prosecutor in the courtroom scene would have at least been warned by the judge for some of her outrageous remarks and behavior. I was also troubled by the fact that Ashley Judd's character while seeking help locating her son from prison, never tried to contact her lawyer. They seemed to have a good relationship. What happened to this guy? Did he die, fall off the edge of the earth or what? Finally, I don't see how even the smallest car can fall off the back of a ferry boat full of passengers and not be noticed by at least one person. Still that is what we are asked to believe.These and a few other distractions aside, it wasn't a bad film. It just could have been so much better. Still, it was worth a couple of bucks on a rainy afternoon.

A very average thriller

There are good 1999 films: Matrix, Sixth Sense and American Beauty.There are bad 1999 films: Wild Wild West, the Haunting and End of days.When I saw Double Jeopardy there were a few words that came to me, words like average and allright. There's nothing basically wrong with it, but there are hardly any plus points. You do get to see Ashley's Jugs, though. **(out of five)

how to cheat your insurance broker

Fraud,crime and adventure in this well-designed movie.A very respectable woman will suffer the greatest of pain in prison. Social aspects of an ill-behaved husband are examined in an everchanging environment of deceit and malice.Looking for her son becomes a major weapon for survival.

Enjoyable - in a very light, uninvolved kind of way

The trailers looked pretty good and after missing it in about 3 countries that I was in, finally got to watch it on an airplane. Not too bad for a basic action movie. Not enrapturing by any means, but as something to watch once, it was entertaining enough. I don't think that I will go so far as to buy the DVD though.

Great Movie!

Double Jeopardy was a great movie with great actors&actresses.

Elizabeth Parsons(Ashley Judd) goes on a cruise with her husband,on their private sailboat.Her husband frames her of his murder.When Elizabeth is in jail,she is talking to her freind that adopted her son and ran off to San Francisco.She hears that her husband is still alive.When she is in jail,her friend is telling her about the 5th ammendment.Nobody can be charged of the same crime twice.When she gets out of jail,she finds her husband in New Orleans,he has changed his name.

This is a most have movie for Action Fans.This is one of Jones' best movies.

Ludicrous plot. SPOILERS

1. After finding out her ex faked his death to steal insurance money, why didn't this woman contact an investigator, a journalist, or get her helpful parents to do that? Instead we are to believe she sat in prison 8 years doing nothing, as if plotting revenge, then on getting out wanted no part of revenge until forced into it?2. When he had the chance to kill her at the cemetery, why did he not do so. Instead we are to believe he left her alive, loaded her body into a coffin and sealed it to try to suffocate her, and while doing so missed the fully loaded revolver in her pocket which he conveniently left for her to use to blast out of the coffin. Ludicrous.The list goes on. I found the inconsistencies so numerous, the film was painful to watch.

Youre getting sleepy very sleepy

Although Judd is shagareffic this movie was very.It is Markie Post lifetimeish if you are a chick the bad dialogue and superweak plot wont derail you.If you are guy just picture ashley judd nake the whole movie believe me you will need to if yawanna last through this one

Servicable, but Legally Inaccurate

Please don't use this movie as legal advice. It is simply incorrect. Double jeopardy is NOT a bar to conviction of the same offense in another state (look up "dual sovereignty" in Black's law dictionary). Further, it fails to address the civil consequences of what is being proposed (though the actual circumstances of Ashley Judd's actions end up differing, but I won't spoil it for you). An interesting puzzle for legal beagles everywhere: if you were a prosecutor in the state in which she was convicted of murder (assuming general "common law" state law principles apply), and she "re-committed" (i.e., in fact did commit) murder IN THAT SAME STATE, how would you go about securing a conviction for the second (actual) murder?Anyway, the movie is servicable enough, often silly, occasionally absurd and/or ridiculous, but not a total waste of money, and Ashley is, of course, a doll, as always.

it could have been done better...

Double Jeopardy is the kind of film that someone rents on video in order to have a great 2-hour entertainment. Actually the film looks ok even in the big screen thanks to a very beautiful leading actress (Ashley Judd is completely ravishing) and an intriguing plot (at least at the beginning). Problems appear along with the introduction of Tommy Lee Jones role (a very weak performance) and continue with the more and more unbelievable screenplay. My final verdict on this film is that it's a great action/drama combination and a very entertaining film but of no artistic value. In other words : it could have been done better.

Movie was worth seeing, but the DVD needed more extras.

The plot of the movie is that Ashley Judds charactor gets convicted of murdering her husband, only to find that he is still alive. After serving six years in prison she is released to the halfway house run by Tommy Lee Jones, who plays too much like his "Fugitive" role, and she begins a quest for revenge. The DVD only comes with the Theatrical Trailer and a behind the scenes. The studio (Paramount) needs to start putting more extras on their discs or lose sales to companies like Universal, Warner, and New Line who load on the extras and charge less per movie.

Ridiculous

OK, so Ashley Judd is very cute and Tommy Lee Jones has showed us more than once that he can play tough cops. Well, you know what? That's no excuse for putting the two of them together with an absolutely lousy script and very bad direction to make this piece of junk. For one thing, there's no suspense at all. The "action" scenes are laughable in the worst possible way. Also, Ms. Judd's nude scene is completely unnecessary. You'd think Tommy Lee would have more sense than returning to the SAME character he played in The Fugitive and its sequel just because it rendered him an Oscar nomination the first time around. He could do better than this. So should we. (For more, see Sue Scotese's excellent review, below.)

Double Jeopardy (1999)

Director: Bruce Beresford
Cast: Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Benjamin Weir, Jay Brazeau, Bruce Greenwood.
Running Time: 93 minutes.
Rated R for violence, language, and simulated sex.

While not the most intelligent or original of thrillers, "Double Jeopardy" manages to squeak out as much positive energy from a fairly mediocre script and only adequate direction due to its solid starring cast. The life of Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) was going perfectly. She had a beautiful boy with her extremely successful husband (Bruce Greenwood). While on a second honeymoon trip on their yacht, Libby has her life turned upside down when she realizes that her husband has been murdered. To make matters even worse, Libby is the only suspect in the case and is charged with murder and sentenced to jail.

Knowing that she was not the killer, Libby waits out her time in jail until her parole. She learns that her son has been taken into custody and suspects that her husband may not even be dead after all. Her parole officer, the gritty Travis Lehman (played by the dependable Tommy Lee Jones), stays on her like a hawk, but she manages to escape out of his grasp in search of the truth--she knows that her husband is still alive and she will do whatever it takes to get her perfect life back--even if she has to kill her "dead" husband. Lehman stays one step behind her, attempting to catch her before she can do anymore damage. Judd and Jones are a supremely entertaining pair, but unfortunately they are not together on screen much during the last half of the film. Greenwood is exceptional as the conniving worm of a husband. Nothing too special, "Double Jeopardy" is a fine film to catch on the television if it pops onto NBC or CBS on the weekends. Luckily, the film does not spend any time actually debating the validity of the double jeopardy clause--maybe we'll get lucky and that argument will be present in a sequel.

Great storyline with great characters

I was wary at first about this film, but now that I've seen it, I want to go back and watch it again just to get all the little things I missed the first time. I loved the storyline almost as much as the characters themselves. This is Tommy Lee Jones at his best!!!

There's a time and place for everything and women in peril thrillers were cool at that time..

I've read all the bad reviews-I can say that it's really not THAT bad-granted-this picture has no realism whatsoever but-I could rattle off the names of many movies even more unbelievable that are still considered good films.Not that this is a really GOOD film or anything-but it does what it does well-which is to get your attention and hold it-no great analysis, no deep conversations afterward about "what it all meant". Just a bit of time away from day to day life.The movie is also trying to appeal to a particular crowd, the type who like these type of "mind thrillers'(Guilty as sin is another one, Malice, Final analysis etc etc) There's a whole host of movies like this one.Now this particular movie stars Ashley Judd who is so talented she almost had me thinking she really was locked up-definitely a quality actress-and if your a female and have just had a really BAD breakup you may wanna see it for that "woman will triumph" quality.Not that I'm saying this movie is great but I always tend to look for the bad AND the good-I thought one of the worst thrillers(a lot worse then this) was malice with Kidman and Alec Baldwin-that one was not only improbable but also extremely boring-but I'm getting off the subject at hand...I liked this. saw it in the theater and rooted for Ashley all the way.Seen a lot worse in my time.And lastly if you wanna check out ridiculous movies(and it's a SEQUEL to boot) rent "revenge of the stepford wives".

Get Your Own Copy NOW!

A great movie full of action and suspense with a wonderful plot. Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones were both superb in their respective roles. Bruce Beresford portrayed a husband of the type we all love to hate and did it well. I highly recommend this one to anyone with an interest in law or legal dramas. It's fast paced and keeps your mind racing as you wonder what is going to happen next. Order your own copy NOW!

Sleeping with the Fugitive

Libby (Ashley Judd) and Nick (Bruce Greenwood) have a good life: a loving marriage, a large lake-front home, and a four-year-old son (Benjamin Weir) just for starters. Of course in Hollywood, nothing this good can last, and for Libby her ordeal begins when she awakens on a sailboat to find her husband gone, leaving behind only a knife and a whole lot of blood. The coast guard quickly arrives on the scene to find Libby holding the murder weapon (talk about perfect timing!) and she is soon charged with the murder.Of course Libby is convicted, thanks to woefully inadequate counsel and an unbelievably lenient judge--lenient to the prosecution, that is. With Nick dead and Libby unwilling to put her son through the hell she went through in her parents' house, Libby's friend Angie agrees to take Matty in and adopt him.Does this sound contrived enough yet? Wait, there's more! Angie skips town with Matty, and Libby tracks her down through some clever detective work.
While on the phone with her, Matty to call out, "Daddy!" Is Nick alive?Fueled by rage and realization that the fifth amendment would allow her to legally murder her husband in cold-blood, Libby connives her way through a parole hearing after six years' imprisonment (or is it eight?) and hits the streets searching for her not-so-dead husband and more importantly her son.
Assigned to a community house under the administration of one Travis Lehman (Tommy Lee Jones), she quickly violates parole and leaves Lehman up a creek (literally) as she races off on her quest.What follows is nothing more than a remake of _The Fugitive_, and we soon come to realize that _Double Jeopardy_ is essentially standard Hollywood fare with a gimmick that ultimately has very little to do with the story line. But where _The Fugitive_ was cleverly written with compelling characters and motivations, _Jeopard_ is packed with coincidence following unbelievable coincidence until the entire movie feels too contrived to be enjoyable._Jeopardy_ also suffer from the nagging plot holes. For example, it doesn't matter if Libby can be retried for her husband's murder; she violated parole and will never be allowed to live with her son in peace. Also, despite Libby's lament of her childhood, she visits her mother who treats her kindly and even helps her financially. Why was it she wouldn't let Matty live there?_Double Jeopardy_ refuses to allow us the necessary suspension of disbelief because the flaws are so obvious we can't help but notice them. Thankfully Judd's resolve and Jones' wit, combined with a healthy dose of action and suspense, are enough to keep our interest until the unfulfilling showdown.
They are not, however, enough to recommend this movie.**1/2 out of ****

Good for psychological insight

Ashely Judd plays Libby Parson, a woman accused of murdering her husband. While in jail, she discovers that her husband is still alive and has her son. She serves her time and, once on parole, sets out after her husband. After all, she can't be sentenced twice for killing her husband.
This movie provides insight into how far a person would go to get back what they love the most. The only problem I see with it is the sex scene at the beginning. Yuck.

Double Jeopardy

Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, and Bruce Greenwood kept me on the edge of my set...Kudos! This is the best movie I've seen in a LONG time.

Judd And Jones Deliver

**Possible Spoilers** Ashley Judd stars as Libby Parsons, a woman out for justice after being wrongly accused of her husband's murder in `Double Jeopardy,' a thriller from director Bruce Beresford. Libby is happily married and living in the Seattle area with her husband, Nick (Bruce Greenwood), and their four-year-old son, Matty (Benjamin Weir). Nick, however, is in big financial trouble, and they are about to lose everything; and Libby knows nothing about it. Under pretense of buying her a boat, Nick takes Libby sailing, alone. During the night he disappears, leaving behind evidence of his apparent murder, and orchestrating it to incriminate Libby.
When she is convicted and sent to prison, Matty goes to stay with a family friend, Angela (Annabeth Gish), who disappears with the boy a month later.
Adamant in her quest to locate Angela by tracking her through a series of phone numbers, she finally succeeds; and also discovers that Nick is still alive. And with Angela. Frustrated in her attempts to get someone to listen to her story, Libby can do nothing but serve her time, and wait.
After serving six years in prison, she is paroled, and begins searching for her son, armed with a useful bit of information she learned on the inside:
The law of Double Jeopardy; since she's already been convicted of killing her husband, she cannot be tried for it again, even if she shoots him in front of a crowd in the middle of Times Square. She does have one more problem, though. Her parole officer, Travis Lehman (Tommy Lee Jones) is out to track her down for violating her parole, and If he catches her, she'll go back to prison. Outstanding performances by Judd and Jones highlight this film, along with some nice touches by Beresford in keeping the tension high while moving it along at just the right pace. Judd makes Libby believable, infused with a vulnerability and determination that makes you pull for her; she's a strong woman who's been wronged, and you desperately want to see her get her life put back together. Jones is convincing as the hard-as-nails Lehman, who doesn't see parole as a second chance, but as a `last' chance. Beneath it all, however, you know that this is a man who also believes in justice, and will do what he can to make it so. Greenwood gives just the right touch of boorishness to Nick; he's like the successful used-car salesman you never want to have to deal with, and you wait for the moment when Libby will finally get her crack at him.
The supporting cast includes Annabeth Gish (Angela), Michael Gaston (Cutter), Roma Maffia (Margaret) and Davenia McFadden (Evelyn). In a world in which the unjust too often prevail, it is gratifying to at least see the attempt made of putting things to right. `Double Jeopardy' does just that; it takes you on a wild ride and gives you hope at the same time. Maybe it's only a movie, but it's a good one. And sometimes, that'll just have to do.
I rate this one 8/10.

I just wasn't impressed...

I can't exactly pinpoint my disappointment with Double Jeopardy, but I do know that I wasn't happy overall with the movie.One thing that I couldn't understand was why Tommy Lee Jones was hardly used in this movie... The first half of the movie deals with Ashley Judd's character "Elizabeth" dealing with the death of her husband and being sent off to prison.. Tommy Lee Jones is nowhere to be seen during all of this! He's such a strong character in these sort of situations...After that this movie falls into your basic "chase" action movie piece...nothing new, nothing interesting... especially if you've seen the Fugitive...Definately...5/10 stars