Double Jeopardy

USA/Germany 1999

Reviewed by Jamie Graham

Synopsis

Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.

Washington, the present. While sailing on the yacht Libby Parsons' husband Nick bought her as a present, Libby awakes in the night to find Nick missing. On deck, she picks up a blood-splattered knife just as the coast guards show up. An inquest declares Nick officially dead and Libby, due a $2m life-insurance payoff, is found guilty of his murder. Facing a six-year sentence, Libby signs the money and custody of her young son Matty over to her friend Angie, who suddenly disappears with the boy. Libby tracks Angie down, calls her from prison and is shocked when Matty is overheard greeting his father. Convinced Nick has faked his own death, Libby waits out her sentence: the 'double jeopardy' legal clause means she can kill him after her release and, having already done time for the crime, not be touched for it.

On release, Libby is placed under the supervision of parole officer Travis Lehman. But she jumps parole to pursue Angie (whom Nick has killed), Matty and Nick. Her search leads her to New Orleans, with Lehman in pursuit. Libby confronts Nick and demands Matty back. At the cemetery handover point, Nick tricks Libby and buries her alive in a mausoleum. She escapes and with the help of Lehman (who now believes her story) lures Nick into a taped confession. A shootout ensues, during which Lehman is wounded and Nick is killed. Libby is reunited with Matty.

Review

Playing out like an amalgam of The Fugitive and the 'feminist' revenge dramas that spattered the horror genre at the end of the 70s (I Spit on Your Grave, 1978, Angel of Vengeance, 1980), Double Jeopardy is quick to establish its wronged-woman premise and to cut quite literally to the chase. Libby, however, is subjugated to a different form of humiliation than that of the revenge dramas in the opening reel, as her husband frames her for his own faked death and scarpers, leaving her to spend six years in prison. During her incarceration (and via a clumsy piece of exposition) Libby learns of the legal loophole which prevents anyone from being tried twice for the same crime, leaving her free to track down her mendacious husband and kill him with impunity after her release.

For an action-movie heroine, Libby is a slightly more multifaceted character than usual, maternal as well as murderous. Director Bruce Beresford has a well-established track record in such woman-centred dramas as Tender Mercies and Driving Miss Daisy and his sombre instincts anchor Double Jeopardy in character and motivation, keeping it from devolving into the string of affectless images endemic to this genre. Granted, he permits Tommy Lee Jones' parole officer, in frantic pursuit of Libby, to run and chase and bark and snap in a lazy reprise of his Oscar-winning turn in The Fugitive, but there's a steady current of quality amid the sea of mediocrity.

Particular highlights include a seamless match cut that transports Libby from her bed at home to the cot of her prison ward, a surreal underwater shot of Libby and her parole officer escaping a sinking car, and a marvellous pursuit through New Orleans' teeming streets, the action weaving through various blasts of discordant source sound. Elsewhere, it's thrill-ride business as usual, with overly tortuous plot twists, Hollywood clichés - Libby buffing up in prison à la Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, the baddie leaving her an overlooked escape route instead of just killing her - and a distended finale, part of which steals shamelessly from The Vanishing.

Credits

Director
Bruce Beresford
Producer
Leonard Goldberg
Screenplay
David Weisberg
Douglas S. Cook
Director of Photography
Peter James
Editor
Mark Warner
Production Designer
Howard Cummings
Music
Normand Corbeil
©MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Co. I. Produktions KG
Production Companies
Paramount Pictures presents a Leonard Goldberg production
Produced in association with MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Co. I.
Produktions KG
Co-producer
Richard Luke Rothschild
Production Supervisor
New Orleans Unit:
Bob Johnston
Production Co-ordinators
Penny Gibbs
New Orleans Unit:
Karen Shaw
Unit Production Manager
B. Casey Grant
Location Managers
Kirk Johns
New Orleans Unit:
David McCarty
Post-production Liaison
Jennifer Corey
2nd Unit Director
Glenn Randall
Assistant Directors
Richard Cowan
David Klohn
Eddy Santos
Canada:
Carwyn Jones
New Orleans:
Joan Cunningham
Ann C. Salzer
2nd Unit:
Patrice Leung
Alysse Leite-Rogers
Script Supervisor
Shelley Crawford
Casting
Deborah Aquila
Sarah Halley Finn
Associate:
Dayna Polehanki
Canada:
Lynne Carrow
Canada, Associate:
Sue Brouse
Voice:
Barbara Harris
2nd Unit Directors of Photography
André Fleuren
Erich Roland
Additional Photography
Dean Lyras
Underwater Camera
Pete Romano
Aerial Cinematographer
Ron Goodman
Camera Operators
Stephen S. Campanelli
André Fleuren
Underwater:
Rick Mason
Steadicam Operator
Stephen S. Campanelli
Visual Effects Producer
Juliette Yager
Digital Visual Effects
Cinesite
Visual Effects Supervisor:
Kevin Lingenfelser
Visual Effects Producer:
Ariana Lingenfelser
Computer Graphics Animators:
Richard Kidd
John Hewitt
James Peterson
Dylan Robinson
Chris Lentz
Jason MacLeod
Water/Godray Developer:
Jerry Tassendorf
Digital Matte Painter:
Lubo Christov
Rotoscope Artists:
Tim Gibbons
Erin M. Cullen
Plate Supervisor:
Brad Kuehn
Special Effects Co-ordinators
William Orr
New Orleans Unit:
Larz Anderson
Special Effects Foreperson
Lars Lenander
Special Effects
Mark Obedinsky
Steve Davis
W.A. Andrew Sculthorp
Graham S. Hollins
New Orleans Unit:
Albert Delgado
Neil Stockstill
Robert Cooper
Mark Toups
Computer Graphics Designer/Programmer
Gladys Tong
Art Directors
Supervising:
Andrew Neskoromny
New Orleans Unit:
Kevin Constant
Set Designers
John Marcynuk
Allan Galajda
Roxanne Methot
Set Decorators
Elizabeth Wilcox
New Orleans Unit:
Jeanette Scott
Production Illustrators
Brent Boates
John Coven
Scenic Artists
Barry Kootchin
New Orleans Unit:
Larry Spurlock
Costume Designers
Rudy Dillon
Linda Bass
Costume Supervisors
Michelle Baines
New Orleans Unit:
Donna Chance
Make-up
Supervising Artist:
Norma Hill-Patton
New Orleans Unit:
Allison Gordon
Prosthetic Corpse
Charles Porlier
Hair Stylists
Supervising:
Debra Wiebe
New Orleans Unit:
Donna Spahn
Title Design
Robert Dawson
Digital Main Titles
Digiscope
Titles/Opticals
Pacific Title/Mirage
Orchestra Conductor
Ken Kugler
Orchestrations
Roger Hewett
Music Production Set Supervisor
Rick Fleishman
Music Editor
Craig Pettigrew
Music Recordist/Mixer
Dennis Sands
Music Recordist
Paul Wertheimer
Music Technical Engineer
Norm Dlugatch
Soundtrack
"Juicy Lucy" by Horace Silver, performed by The Jeff Hamilton Trio; "Moodstar" by/performed by Bob James; "As If It Were Yesterday" by/performed by Joe Lervold; "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" producer/arranged/ performed by Kennard Ramsey; "Amazing Grace" by John Newton, performed by John Newton, Jerome Alexander, Reginald Ringo, George Hunter, Barth C. Phillips, arranged by Jerome Alexander, Reginald Ringo; "If You're So Smart, How Come You Ain't Rich" by Bill Friedman, Fred Norman, Walter Bishop, performed by Joe Simon; "Marianna" by/performed by Gary Comeau; "Funky 5-0" by/performed by Todd Duke, Sammy Price, Andrew Lasala; "Tipitina" by Henry Roeland Byrd, performed by Professor Longhair; "Motor Dude Special" by Wilson Chavis, performed by Boozoo Chavis and the Majic Sounds; "Down in Jungle Town" by Theodore Morse, Edward Madden, performed by The Young Men of New Orleans; "Petite ou la grosse" by Joe Bonsall, performed by Al Berard & the Basin Brothers; "State of the Blues" by Milton Batiste, Victorian Wilson, performed by Milton Batiste & the Rue Conti Jazz Band; "Telephone to Glory" (trad), performed by Milton Batiste & the Rue Conti Jazz Band, arranged by Milton Batiste; "Clarinet Marmalade" by Larry Shields, H.W. Ragas, performed by The Alliance Hall Dixieland Band; "Oh! What Can I Do" by Ida Guillory, performed by Queen Ida; "Tiger Rag" by Harry DeCosta, H.W. Ragas, D.J. LaRocca, Larry Shields, A. Sbarbaro, Edwin B. Edwards, performed by The N'Orleans Statesmen; "Rumblin' Reeds" by John 'Juke' Logan, David Hidalgo, Conrad Lozano, Jerry Angel, performed by John 'Juke' Logan; "No Use Talkin'" by Cindy Bullens, Francesca Beghe, performed by Irma Thomas; "Doctor Jazz" by Joseph Oliver, Walter Melrose, performed by Tom Baker's Jazz Band; "That's Enough of That Stuff" by/performed by Marcia Ball; "St. James Infirmary", "We Shall Walk through the Streets of the City" (trad), performed by Spirit of New Orleans Brass Band
Sound Mixer
Rob Young
Re-recording Mixers
Gary Bourgeois
Myron Nettinga
Supervising Sound Editors
Sandy Berman
Michael Szakmeister
Dialogue Editors
Dave Williams
J.H. Arrufat
Sound Effects Editors
Cameron Frankley
Chuck Michael
ADR
Group:
Kimberly Bailey
Carlyle King
David Randolph
Judi Durand
Daamen Krall
Dale Raoul
Doris Hess
Marsha Kramer
Ruth Zalduondo
Recordist:
Dave McDonald
Mixer:
Bob Baron
Supervising Editor:
Becky Sullivan
Foley
Artists:
Sarah Monat
Robin Harlan
Mixer:
Randy K. Singer
Supervising Editor:
Christopher Flick
Editors:
Tom Small
Tammy Fearing
Marine Co-ordinator
Dan Crosby
Diving Co-ordinator
James Paradis
Stunt Co-ordinators
Glenn Randall
Canada:
Melissa R. Stubbs
2nd Unit Underwater Tank Supervisor
Billy Badalato
2nd Unit Helicopter Pilot
Steve Wright
Cast
Tommy Lee Jones
Travis Lehman
Ashley Judd
Libby Parsons
Bruce Greenwood
Nick Parsons
Annabeth Gish
Angie
Benjamin Weir
Matty, aged 4
Jay Brazeau
Bobby
John MacLaren
Rudy
Edward Evanko
Warren
Bruce Campbell
bartender at party
Brennan Elliott
yuppie man
Angela Schneider
yuppie girl
Michael Gaston
Cutter
Gillian Barber
Rebecca Tingely
Tom McBeath
coast guard officer
David Jacox
Deputy Ben
Betsy Brantley
prosecutor
Woody Jeffreys
watch stander
French Tickner
judge
Roma Maffia
Margaret Skolowski
Davenia McFadden
Evelyn Lake
Maria Bitamba
prisoner at phone
Ben Bodé
Karl Carruthers
Robin J. Kelley
parole board member
Dana Owen Still
drug counsellor
Gabrielle Rose
Georgia
Daniel LaPaine
handsome internet expert
Maria R. Herrera
Libby's roommate
Babz Chula
Ruby
Enuka Okuma
parolee
Captain Peter Kimmerly
ferry captain
George Gordon
emergency room doctor
David Fredericks
trucker
Anna Hagan
Libby's mother
Fulvio Cecere
BMW salesman
Tracy Vilar
Orbe
Addison Ridge
boy at door
Crystal Verge
housewife
Joy Coghill
neighbour in garden
Bernard Cuffling
gallery owner
Barth C. Phillips
Reginald Ringo
Jerome Alexander
George Hunter
singers in Jackson Square
Ingrid Torrence
Maison Beau Coeur clerk
Roger R. Cross
hotel manager
Pamela Perry
Mrs Kritch
Tim McDermott
bell hop
Keegan Tracy
boutique saleswoman
Dave Hager
Mangold
Jason Douglas
detective
Jeannie Grelier Church
scarf woman
Austin B. Church
scarf woman's husband
Michael Shannon Jenkins
doorman
Joe Simon
singer at auction
Charlie Detraz
auctioneer
Susan Lecourt-Barbe
Ramona Tyler
C. Barrett Downing
bidders
Michelle Stafford
Suzanne Monroe
Greg Di Leo
Lance Spellerberg
bachelor at auctions
George Touliatos
New Orleans bartender
Deryl Hayes
New Orleans cop
Brent Woolsey
mounted cop
Eliza Murbach
co-ed with umbrella
Roland 'Bob' Harris
preacher
Lossen Chambers
Lucy
Harold Evans
New Orleans cabbie
Thomas M. Mathews
Gordon Starling Jr
coaches
Spencer Treat Clark
Matty, aged 11
George Montgomery II
Matty pretender
Certificate
15
Distributor
United International Pictures (UK) Ltd
9,477 feet
105 minutes 18 seconds
Dolby digital/Digital DTS sound
Colour by
DeLuxe
Anamorphic [Panavision]
Last Updated: 20 Dec 2011