‘You destroyed my life…’
1999 was a landmark year for cinema with the release of American Beauty, Fight Club and The Matrix. This era also marked the end of big-budget thrillers marketed at adults. Double Jeopardy falls squarely into this remit and while it hasn’t endured like some of its 1999 counterparts it’s a movie that still holds up today…
When Nick Parsons (Bruce Greenwood) goes missing, his wife Libby (Ashley Judd) is arrested and convicted of his murder. What Libby and the viewer understand, however, is that Nick framed Libby and he’s still alive somewhere living his best life. Tommy Lee Jones rounds out a starry cast as a sympathetic parole officer.
Judd is probably best known now for her humanitarian work and her accusations against Harvey Weinstein. The latter trashed Judd’s career when she rejected his sexual advances. Double Jeopardy is a testament not only to her abilities as an actor but also to her capacity to carry a film in a leading role. She is excellent here. Tortured, cowed and defeated but always defiant – never losing sight of her status as a woman scorned. Greenwood is a little more one-dimensional as the villain but Lee Jones is as watchable as ever and it’s a shame that we don’t get to see the three of them together until the film’s (incredibly satisfying) conclusion. The consequence of Judd’s performance being so convincing is that you really root for her in this movie. By the end, I was desperate to see justice done and director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) keeps this tension going right until the end.
Double Jeopardy is a captivating thriller with an ingenious premise that marks the end of a terrific era of mainstream filmmaking. Today, a film like this would have half the budget, an inferior cast and would be dumped straight to streaming. Grown-up filmmaking like this should be treasured.