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Here's a look from MC Chill Wizard B of DOUBLE JEOPARDY
Hey folks, Harry here. The trailer for this film feels a bit... lacking to me, but one never knows for sure. Apparently our faithful MC Chill Wizard B saw an advance screening of this film with no score... which can really slow a film down. So, perhaps the film will play much better when it's all wrapped up. But for now, here's how it looks. Beware of spoilers.
got a pass to see double jeopardy - tommy lee jones and ashley judd
prison/chase/intrigue type thing - with a couple friends, which usually
enhances a movie-going experience - movies on the solo tip have their
place, but you know what i mean...
only thing missing was original music - soundtrack type stuff, supposedly,
but who cares, really?
it's another fugitive type movie for tommy lee jones, and though he's not a
marshall of any sort here - instead playing a ex-law professor-turned
parole officer/halfway house manage - but sure does a lot of cross-country
tracking and running after the fugitive on hand, ashley judd.
ill try not to spoil anything, just give the extended version of what
the trailers tell you - judd plays a woman with the cool lake-side house,
the tow-headed cutesy little boy, the enterprising husband (played by
canadian bruce greenwood - the sweet hereafter, exotica and that long-since
cancelled but alright show Nowhere man) - he does something vaguely
corporate and there seems to be some sort of trouble brewing on the
business tip, and he likes art by candinsky (is that spelled correctly - i
dont know much abpout art) which is sort of vaguely important, but not
really... he buys her a sail boat and they take it for a test run, have
some sex (judd has a really nice back but the audience laughed at the sex
itself, which ends sort of bizarrely - kind of more realistic, probably,
but you dont reaqlly know he's done till he stops - i guess what im trying
to say is that mr. greenwood, a talented actor, didnt really sell the
orgasm, so titters sort of abounded) and go to sleep ... judd wakes up to
find herself covered in blood and bloody footprints leading to the railings
on the deck of the boat, and she finds a bloody knife and picks it up - and
the coast guard arrives, catching her red-handed, literally. (i apologize
for that, i dont know what came over me. i should probably lie down before
i start dishing out puns and knock knock jokes...) anyhow - she's accused
of his murder - there was a 2 million dollars insurance policy for him, and
the business problems were pretty serious, so there's her motive. so she
goes to prison cause there's too much evidence (but still no body) against
her and tells a friend of hers (Annabeth Gish - Mystic Pizza, SLC Punk) to
adopt her son. soon, she stops getting visits from them and cant find them
at all. so, taking advice from some friendly inmates - no explanation why
they're nice to her and don't just try to make little ashley toss their
salads or anythign else requiring a toss or two - and makes calls to track
gish and her son down - and finds out her husband is alive and leaving with
the two of them. one of her new prison buddies turns out to be a lawyer
(this woman was michael douglas' lawyer in disclosure and a detective in
judd's last movie, kiss the girls - roma maffia is her name - imdb is
great) and explains the 5th amendment to judd and so the audience can
understand the title and why the movie has nothing to do with the second
round of the game show hosted by alex trebek. the 5th amendment says that a
person cannot be tried for the same crime twice, so ms. inmate/ex-lawyer
says that if her husband is alive, she should go and kill him, and no one
can do anythign about it. it's a funny moment and a cool idea, but not
enought to float a movie on. the rest of the film is judd trying to track
her child and husband and gish down and avoid her parole officer - played
by jones, who has some issues of his won, which are never explored past
epidermal levels (remember when kids used to get you with that "you're
epidermis is showing!" joke? i know it wasnt just me that fell for it the
first time).
there's some good car stunts and an okay chase scene, but,
action-wise, it's pretty lightweight, so the dramatic elements are probably
supposed to keep it all going, but ashley judd always has that cool remove
thing going, no matter what film she's in, and characters are introduced
and dissappear with the bare minimum of explanation or motivation - gish
and the two inmates, especially. judd's 6 years in prison pass in a matter
of minutes, and she looks exactly the same as when she checked in - just a
little less made up - and somehow, she's made friends with people, but they
dissapear from the movie as soon as she gets her parole. and jones tracks
her too easily for mst of the movie - he just shows up minutes behind her,
with no explanation, when he first gets on her trail.
bruce beresford, who did good stuff liek breaker morant back in the
day, okay stuff like driving miss daisy, cool stuff like black robe and
horrible stuff like silent fall and last dance (the sharon stone death row
movie, so he apparently has a soft spot for women in prison). his work has
suffered deteriorating effects over the years, and he doesn't recover with
this one - throwing out another heavy-handed and mostly boring product.
jones is good - he's pretty much alsways good - but he needs to turn down
these running after people projects, although im sure they pay him well.
bruce greenwood is appropriately morally bankrupt and charming as the
not-so-nice husband, but he's pretty much always good, too. judd sure looks
excellent and has a pretty voice, but she always seems separated from
everything that's going on and comes off as very replacable - i still think
her best work was in smoke, as stockard channing and harvey kietel's kid,
heat and normal life. she's in determined kiss the girls mode here, and i
guess that film must have made enough money to land her this job. she's
more intesting with a pronounced edge, and she's sort of edgeless in this
one.
my friends (one guy, one girl, if that matters) didn't enjoy it
much either, but i didn't grill them or anything, but they seemed to have
the same feelings/complaints as me.
the film needs some trimming down - it's only an hour and 45
minutes, but it just doesn't feel tight - maybe it wasn't all the way done.
the prison stuff is so thrown together and silly it's laughable, but the
chase is at least engaging, and the conclusion no surprise but alright.
another dissapointing film, really, im still waiting for something
mind-blowing, heart-racing, eye-opening, anything hyphenated like that....
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+ Expand All
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Aug 13, 1999 1:12:32 AM CDT
THE MOVIE THAT I THOUGHT WOULD BE GOOD BUT ALL I HAVE TO LOOK FO
by misterwinkie
........WHAT is ...DOUBLE JEOPARDY.
sorry i just had to do it...i know.....its not funny but hey...the reviewer isnt the only one who can give out bad jokes....:) -
This movie SCREAMS "Lifetime movie." I won't be investing my hollywood stock cash in it!
Although Ashley Judd is a babe. Or was that Charleze Theron? hmmm.... -
Aug 13, 1999 5:55:20 AM CDT
Hey, isn't this the movie they tried to pitch in Robert Altman's
by brendan3
Seriously, any fan of THE PLAYER (shame on you if you're not) should recognize this plot as being really simillar to the one Richard Grant pitches to Tim Robbins in THE PLAYER. hmmmm.
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Aug 13, 1999 8:07:13 AM CDT
That bastard Harry wouldn't print my review of "Double Jeopardy"
by kindo larue
"Double Jeopardy"
Elizabeth Parsons(Ashley Judd) lives the perfect life. Her husband (Bruce Greenwood "The Sweet Hereafter") is a successful businessman, she has a precocious four year-old boy, and her child -
Well, I guess Kindo just earned his paycheck this week. Just curious...do you get to park on the Paramount lot, or do they stick your ass out there on Gower?
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Aug 13, 1999 12:22:54 PM CDT
Oh, I get it. Just because I have spellcheck and a semi-healthy
by kindo larue
Is this the case?
I suppose it's not worth the time to dispute this argument.
For the record, I'm not a studio shill. That would be Harry.
Thanks for the support. I'm thrilled to see other fans of the cinema be so open to another man's criticisms.
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i got the impression "Corprate hack" too by reading you're "review" in the talkback section and not becasue of the grammer or the spellcheck. they way you give correct char. names and actor in () along with other work makes you look suspicous, also some of your phrasphing seems a bit off kilter for the normal "film geek"(notable director, for every Driving Miss Dasiy, etc)...You're review reminded me at least of the one weeks ago for DICK by the Dudette, but at least she was on the mark...DICK was a cute movie...this won't be in the same catagory as PAYBACK or KISS THE GIRLS or even US MARSHALLS for that matter
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I saw Double Jeopardy a few months back in the test screen phase on the Paramount lot. And before you think I'm a studio cronie, let me say this: mediocre-to-bad movie. When I saw it, it had temp music...but an original score written by God (or maybe John Williams) can't save this movie. That it's a Fugitive rip-off isn't what makes it bad, either...it's the lack ofeffort on the part of the film-makers that makes this film lame. It's like they heard about that one clause in the constitution (and it's a great premise, I think) and thought "That'd be a good thriller...like the Fugitive." And that's what this film is, a formula flick (done poorly) with one good idea. I will say it had one excellent scene...two actually: the sex scene (forgive me, but Ashley Judd's quite a looker) and scene in which Judd has arrived at her runaway husband's house, rings the doorbell and puts her finger on the trigger. The rest of the film is rehashed thriller set-pieces done with absolutely no energy (in addition to the lack of creativity). This is the worst kind of bad movie because it could have been so much more. Oh well, let's hope Judd gets more material (Charlize Theron, too, by the way). And to Kindo...you accuse Harry of being the studio shill...I think you should read your review again. Liking a movie (s) is one thing. A review like that is something else entirely. As is my view of things, anyway...
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So, let me get this perfectly straight. A well thought out review, with plenty of ten cent words and a listing of character names (which by the way can be found at the Internet Movie Database) and praising a film for it's deeply entertaining nature...
That's grounds for a false review.
"Double Jeopardy" is not art, it's not "Citizen Kane", it's not "Ernest" either. It's a junky B thriller with some fun attached to it's tail.
By the thinking on this particular section of the vast Harry world, then you must all work for Sony because you just praised "Dick" (Which I loved, but how could I work for two studios at the same time?).
People on this site are starting to believe their own press just a smidge too much.
Kindo
-who liked "Detroit Rock City" as well, thereby supporting his family with three jobs at three different studios. -
Kindo is Ashley Judd.
-
Disclaimer: OK, first of all, I haven't seen this movie. But, I've seen the trailer and I've read other people's reviews and all signs lead me to believe the following. Some assembly required, void where prohibited, sorry Tennessee.
The concept for Double Jeopardy sounded so damn interesting, why did they (you know who THEY are.... THEY are always messing things up) have to go into lazy mode or rush mode and waste a good idea? They could've gone totally dark and made the 2 main characters be a once happy couple in the middle of a bitter divorce and have the husband fake his own murder to get even with his wife. Or the wife could've had an affair and the husband does this whole shebang just to get revenge. I mean, to me both of these scenarios seem to offer more opportunity for some interesting drama and character development than good-wife-gets-framed-by-bad-guy-who-takes-off-with-other-woman. Doesn't it feel like you've seen this situation over and over in movies?
And to top it all off, they make a trailer for this movie that follows the Truman Show, Negotiator, Perfect Murder and now The Astronaut's Wife philosophy of give away the whole movie in the trailer. Thank God the Sixth Sense trailer wasn't made that way. Because the people involved used their creativity and brains, they made a movie that's confident and effective along with a trailer that shows you just enough and not too much.
I hope I'm wrong. I hope they just made a lousy trailer for an awesome movie. But to paraphrase another disappointment, I want a solid gold toilet, but that's just not in the cards now, is it? -
I saw the movie because the thought of being able to kill some one openly without any repercussions was a very cool premise. Not to spoil anything but they pulled the typical Hollywood glossing over with it, not taking the movie where it needed to go to truly be interesting. That aside for a matinee it was entertaining, but something struck me as odd. Very odd. Since when do insurance policies (especially million dollar policies) pay out for murder??? Isn't this why so many movies spin elaborate plots to make deaths look accidental? Maybe I'm wrong but trading six years of your life for two-million dollars isn't that bad a trade off. Where do I get one of these policies? Also where did she get her defense lawyer. 1-800-U-GO-TO-JAIL? All the evidence was circumstantial, any half decent forensics expert would have eaten holes through the illogical crime scene? Am I totally wrong..? I appreciate any thoughts.
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