Double Jeopardy

This ain't the game show....Double Jeopardy stars Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones in a suspense/thriller from the 90's. Libby (Judd) is accused and convicted of murdering her husband on a boating trip. She loses her son and is quickly whisked off to jail. The trouble is, she has been framed by her husband. Thanks to the "Double Jeopardy Law", she can't be tried for the same crime twice. Once she gets out of jail on probation, killing her husband for real is no longer a crime. The movie follows her attempt to find her son and bring justice to her husband.

Okay, sorry that synopsis was only so-so, but I'm so ready for the analysis I can hardly stand it. There are many different problems with this movie, it's hard to know where to begin. First off, we are never told a motive as to why her husband framed her in the first place. He gets with another woman for a while, but then we discover later that she's been killed under questionable circumstances herself. (It is implied that he kills her a few years later).

And another problem: In the attempt to find her son and husband, Libby commits numerous crimes herself, including breaking her probation, destruction of property, resisting arrest, theft, assault, vandalism, breaking and entering, etc. After all this, I'm supposed to feel sorry for this woman? Hardly. This movie has a promising story, but something is just off. Judd is somewhat convincing, but Jones, playing her probation officer, merely takes up space. While extremely rude to her at first, he somehow begins to believe her "I'm innocent" story only AFTER she's wrecked his car, stolen his gun, and bashed him on the head.....righttt.....and by the way, when they finally do find her husband, who has since changed his name, wouldn't just providing a picture of him prove he is who she says he is? That would be too easy.

And as I predicted halfway through the movie, by the end, Libby is "cleared of all charges". Ummmm, hello?, remember all the other crimes mentioned above? That scene made me roll my eyes almost as much as the cheesy scene where Libby is finally reunited with her son. ( the one where he's playing soccer and seems un-phased by the fact that his dad has been shot and killed) I'm sorry, I just gave away the ending AND vomited a little bit. This movie left me annoyed and only slightly entertained.

C-