Double Jeopardy

Double Jeopardy is a no-calorie version of The Fugitive, the outstanding suspense film of 1993 that was based on the TV series. While the premises of both films are similar, there’s no comparison between the two in terms of quality.

Nick Parson (Bruce Greenwood) and his wife, Libby (Ashley Judd) are a nouveau riche couple with a beautiful seacoast home in Washington. Libby is framed for Nick’s murder and sentenced to prison. Before leaving, she asks her best bud Angie (Annabeth Gish) to adopt her 4 year old son Matty. While in prison, Libby finds out that Nick is still alive.

Libby gets a lesson in the Fifth Amendment "double jeopardy" clause from an inmate. Libby can walk up to Nick, shoot him in broad daylight, and get away with it. You can’t be tried twice for the same crime, right? Wrong. Too bad the theater doesn’t run a disclaimer caption underneath: "Warning. Don’t try this at home. These people are only actors, and this is only make-believe."

Anyway, Libby does her best Rocky Balboa bit, lifting weights and running to get in shape. She is incredulously paroled after just six years. Our heroine turns up at a halfway house run by Travis Lehman (Tommy Lee Jones). Libby proceeds to escape en route to New Orleans, where she finds out Nick has taken on a new identity with the insurance settlement from his "murder."

Tommy Lee Jones, with lines in his face running as deep as the Houston Ship Channel, gets to reprise his ever-bellowing Lt. Gerard shtick in pursuit of Libby. I’m not giving away anything you haven’t already seen in the coming attractions. The climatic scene has Libby, Nick, and Lehman winding up in the same room, bullets flying every which way.

Some people will enjoy Double Jeopardy. Play the role of critic when you see it. In the dark, count on your fingers each time there’s an incident that defies common sense. You’ll run out of fingers before Libby gets out of prison. Eventually you’ll run out of toes, too.