Double Jeopardy

"I could shoot you in the middle of Mardi Gras, and they can't touch me."

Stars:
Plot Holes:
Gratuitous Nudity:

Libby Parson's idyllic life is shattered when she wakes up covered with the blood of her missing husband. She's quickly convicted of his murder, and arranges for a friend to adopt her son as she heads for prison. When her son vanishes she manages, through a few phone calls from prison, to track him down, and in the process accidentally discovers her husband is still alive. She spends the next six years in prison plotting revenge, confident that the principle of Double Jeopardy will let her kill him without fear of conviction.

The legal principle of double jeopardy doesn't work that way, and the film's constant concentration on it detracts from what would otherwise be an OK movie. (Not one, but two ex-lawyers tell her she can legally kill her husband.) The double jeopardy angle could have been dropped entirely without changing the story and the movie would have been much more enjoyable.

Double Jeopardy feels like a slowed down version of The Fugitive. Tommy Lee Jones' character is just an older, slower Marshal Samuel Gerard. The plot is nearly identical, right down to Jones' change of heart. There are plenty of chase scenes, but everyone walks fast instead of running.

Don't go out of your way to rent this, but if there's nothing else on the shelves of the video store it's a pleasant enough waste of time. But before renting it, check to see if The Fugitive is available. Why rent a copy when you can get the original?

	The entire Double Jeopardy Theme
Plot Holes:	"We're an insurance company, why would be interested in investigating a big pay off?"
	When locking someone up, be sure to let her keep her gun.

Gratuitous Nudity:   Just a brief bit in the beginning. It could have used more.