Opens September 24, 1999

With her customary combination of girlish charm and womanly grace, Ashley Judd breezes across the screen in her newest outing Double Jeopardy. It's more than unfortunate that the film gives her and frustrated looking co-star Tommy Lee Jones so little to work with. Lovely scenery and well-executed production details do nothing to hide the fact that this is a run-of-the-mill thriller with the only twist being that the classic "wronged man" scenario is now sexually flip-flopped.

Indeed, television viewers will likely recognize a more common namesake for this type of heroine. Judd is the quintessential "woman in jeopardy" albeit with the twist that she's a bit more gutsy and active -- she gets charged with murder and goes to prison after all -- than most of her TV counterparts. By and large, however, one could say that Double Jeopardy is little more than The Fugitive as made by Lifetime Television.

Now, while there's nothing wrong with a female heroine at the core of a film, there needs to be more than her presence to drive the movie. As for Judd, she does her perky best to make this story fly, but as written by The Rock scribes David Weisberg and Douglas S. Cook, the story falls flat. It all starts out in classic style with Judd's Libby Parsons and hubby Nick (Bruce Greenwood) being happy as clams in their glorious Northwest home. However, word is that Nick isn't all that flush monetarily, even though he recklessly buys his beloved Libby a sailboat to indulge her passion for the ocean.

From here on in, it's by-the-numbers story telling of the worst kind. Nick and Libby frolic on the sea and settle in for the night. When Libby awakens, she's covered in blood and Nick is gone. What sort of convenient plot twist would you expect next? That's right. Libby picks up a knife on deck and is immediately spotlighted by the Coast Guard. A few days later, she's charged with Nick's murder and, after a lackluster trial, is easily put away.

After asking her dear friend Angie (Annabeth Gish) to adopt her son, Libby settles into prison life for the long haul. However, when she loses touch with Angie, she tracks her down by phone, demanding to speak with her little boy. What a surprise when he cries out "Daddy!" while he's still on the phone. Libby now knows she's been set up and, after learning about the legal concept of double jeopardy from prison mate and (conveniently) former lawyer Margaret (Roma Maffia), she decides it's time for revenge. No one ever suggests -- and it never occurs to her -- that she could simply call her lawyer and have him see if Nick is still alive.

So, Libby bides her time and becomes exercise happy, as if that proves her determination. Judd's G.I. Jane work-out sequence is so painfully manipulative that its only result is to make the viewer wonder why Hollywood seems to think that the only way a woman looks determined is if she starts lifting weights. So, Libby spends six years pumping iron and running in the rain, eventually proving to the parole board that she's reformed. Of course, she's anything but reformed, and the minute she gets out of prison, she starts making life miserable for her parole officer Travis Lehman (Jones). At the first opportunity, Libby makes a break for it. Risking his job, poor Travis goes after Libby the fugitive, chasing her across the country to New Orleans. Husband Nick resurfaces of course (with a new name and accent), and there is the predictable confrontation between him, Libby and Travis.

The ironic part of all this is that the above summary doesn't really give anything away. In point of fact, even if it did, it wouldn't matter. Double Jeopardy is one of the most hackneyed pieces of story telling to come down the pike in a long time and every plot point is utterly expected down to the last gunshot. Oops, did that give anything away? Of course not. With a title like Double Jeopardy, we know where this is going.

It's all rather sad, too, given how superb the technical credits are here. This film really looks and feels like a movie with its sweeping wide screen vistas and crisp editing, but it lacks the energy and freshness that a blockbuster should have. As mentioned, much of the blame lies with writers Weisberg and Cook, whose cookie cutter plotting is shameful. After The Rock, one would expect something a bit more dynamic.

Thus, with such a script in hand, it's unlikely any director could save the film, but it is doubly difficult for director Bruce Beresford, whose kinder-gentler filmmaking approach is ill-suited to the thriller genre. While Beresford's sensitivity gives us some solid moments between mother and son, it gets in the way of the action, never letting the story (or the actors) break loose and have fun.

Everything considered, it's ironic that Double Jeopardy isn't a worse film. Most of its success goes to the chemistry of the stars. Judd shines despite the stock character she's given to play. Jones valiantly offers his classic gruff guy demeanor, even though his eyes are saying been here, done that. Bruce Greenwood, far from his redneck role in The Sweet Hereafter, gets a chance to show he has real presence, even if he's stuck playing a typical baddie. In the end, this is a film that has video written all over it. It's predictable and harmless, but the stars and the scenery sure look pretty.