Product Details

• Actors: Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Benjamin Weir, Jay Brazeau
• Directors: Bruce Beresford
• Writers: David Weisberg, Douglas Cook
• Producers: Leonard Goldberg, Richard Luke Rothschild
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, Special Edition, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: August 1, 2000
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (230 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004TLMY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,754 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Young Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) is happy as a clam, and why not? She's got a loving, successful husband (Bruce Greenwood), an adorable son, and an island home to die for. One morning, after a romantic sailing expedition with her husband, Libby finds herself covered in blood. Her husband's missing, the boat resembles a murder scene, and there's a knife on the deck. One might stop right there and call for help; Libby, however, takes matters--or, more specifically, the knife--into her own hands, and the moment she does, there's the Coast Guard. Faster than you can say frame-up, Libby's been charged with murder and jailed, with her young son stripped from her custody. It's all cut-and-dried, except for one thing: Libby's husband isn't dead, and she's about to track him down. And thanks to the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy rule, she can't be charged twice for his murder.

Double Jeopardy has a singularly seductive revenge premise and, in Judd, one of the most seductive leading ladies to grace the silver screen in recent years. So then why does this thriller feel like it came from the bottom of the Lifetime television movie barrel? Instead of taking a gritty, hard-boiled approach, the film plays up all of Libby's mushy emotions--tellingly, the director here is Bruce Beresford, whose best film, Driving Miss Daisy, is as far from thriller territory as you can get. No matter how stoically or deviously Judd plays her, Libby comes across as a soccer mom with a slight taste for blood. Only in a few scenes, specifically when she tracks her wily husband to his new identity in New Orleans, does Judd get to strut her stuff, stealing an evening gown and crashing his charity auction. Most of the time, though, this thriller offers only a smattering of suspense. Well, at least like Libby, the filmmakers can't be condemned twice for the same crime. With Tommy Lee Jones duplicating his Fugitive role, as Libby's conscientious parole officer. --Mark Englehart

From The New Yorker

This revenge fantasy isn't believable for an instant, but it provides basic emotional satisfactions, and it's become a hit. Ashley Judd gets sent to prison for the murder of her embezzling handsome rotter of a husband, Bruce Greenwood. When she realizes he's still alive-he staged the whole thing and set her up-she becomes a single-minded avenger, a woman without fear. Director Bruce Beresford brings some delicate character touches to the material and enough space for the moods to ripen, though you may catch yourself wishing that Hitchcock could take over and provide a little wit. Tommy Lee Jones is the parole officer who falls in love with Judd's courage. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Double Jeopardy, April 5, 2008

By 

Kelly "Reviewer for The Sinfully Sensuous" (Littleton, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Double Jeopardy (DVD)

This highly suspenseful thriller showcases Ashley Judd's tremendous talent. Not only is she a phenomenal actress, but also her physical abilities in this movie were impressive. Tommy Lee Jones is as good as he always is. His performances always look so effortless, but never less than stellar. The decision to pair Judd and Jones was genius. They played well off of each other, and had a commanding on screen presence. What a great movie that leaves you guessing on the outcome until the very end!

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A movie thriller that holds your attention all the way!, February 19, 2000

By 

Mr N Forbes-warren "author of RESURGENCE and ... (Newport, South Wales, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Double Jeopardy (DVD)

When you get this on DVD or video when it comes out, you won't want to put this on pause. Ashley Judd plays Libby PArsons, a young woman who has everything she could want . . . until her husband is declared dead after his blood is found on the deck of their yacht, and she is caught with the knife by the Coast Guard. Evidence in court points towards her, she is incarcerated in prison, then by accident learns her husband Nick has faked his death! Hearing she cannot be convicted for murdering him twice, she begs for parole and escapes from her parole officer, an alcoholic, down-on-his-luck job-hater Travis Layman(Tommy Lee Jones, who is virtually recreating his US MARSHALLS role) to track Nick down. There's some great action scenes in the process and some unexpected and unusual plot twists, especially towards the end. So summing up, this movie is well worth watching and very hard to fault.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No surprises, but fast-paced script and good photography, January 19, 2004

By 

Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Double Jeopardy (DVD)

This 1999 film stars Ashley Judd as a woman who is convicted of killing her husband. His body is never found and the audience knows she's been framed. While she's in prison she finds out she can never be tried for the same crime twice, so when she gets out she goes hunting for him. Naturally there is a darling little child involved and naturally our heart goes out to the woman who's been terribly wronged. Tommy Lee Jones is cast as her parole officer who runs a half-way house. She spends a lot of time running away from him and this leads to some wonderful chase scenes. At one point they are both underwater after she's been handcuffed inside a car.

There are no real surprises in the film, just some fine acting, good photography and a fast-paced script that throws Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones into conflict. In spite of the formula however, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Therefore, I suggest it as a escape film to keep you mind involved in the perils of the people on the screen instead of focusing on your own day-to-day issues. Recommended.