Are you in the mood for an absurdly implausible 90s thriller that’s full of plot holes? How about a movie with a premise that’s entirely based on a misinterpretation of legal doctrine? If the answer is yes, look no further than Bruce Beresford’s Double Jeopardy (1999).
This movie is a classic revenge thriller that relies heavily on tropes in lieu of proper story-telling. But despite all of this, I find it to be an absorbing and fun movie to watch when your brain is tired and needs some soothing goo.
The film is centred around Elizabeth "Libby" Parsons (Ashely Judd), a seemingly happily married woman. She and her husband Nick (Bruce Greenwood) live in a beautiful waterfront mansion with their four year old son, Matty (Benjamin Weir).
From the jump, to anyone with a clue, it’s clear that Nick is a pompous and smarmy pig who can’t be trusted. But for some reason, Libby doesn’t question anything this man says (dummy wife trope) and agrees to go on an overnight yacht ride with him into the abyss. Warning: spoilers ahead.
Libby wakes up in the middle of the night to find the boat cabin covered in blood and a knife on the deck. Nick is gone, and about 2 minutes later, the coast guard conveniently swoops in to witness the crime scene. Long story short, she gets accused of murdering her husband and convicted purely based on circumstantial evidence.
Libby is sent to jail and she entrusts her friend, Angie (Annabeth Gish), to take care of Matty. It’s obvious to the audience that Angie is a lying, scheming snake, but once again, Libby proves to be a giant n00b and trusts her completely.
While in prison, Libby discovers that Nick is actually alive and that he framed her for his “murder”. At this point, we get this iconic scene:
After serving six years in prison, Libby gets out on parole with a mission to find her kid and seek revenge on her twisted weasel ex-husband. She's assigned to a halfway house, where her parole officer is a hardened grump played by none other than Tommy Lee Jones.
The latter half of the movie takes place in New Orleans, where Libby breaks 10 different laws with impunity and gets duped a few more times by Nick, who now speaks in a Southern drawl and calls himself Jonathan Devereaux. I won’t tell you how this movie ends, but I’m sure you can guess!
Double Jeopardy is available to rent on iTunes or Prime, or you can borrow it from the Toronto Public Library. Enjoy!