Double Jeopardy (1999)

A woman framed for her husband's murder suspects he is still alive; as she has already been tried for the crime, she can't be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writers:

David Weisberg, Douglas Cook

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd, Benjamin Weir

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Travis
Ashley Judd	...	Libby
Benjamin Weir	...	Matty - Age 4
Jay Brazeau	...	Bobby
Bruce Greenwood	...	Nick
John Maclaren	...	Rudy (as John MacLaren)
Ed Evanko	...	Warren (as Edward Evanko)
Annabeth Gish	...	Angie
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

Storyline

When Nick Parsons appears to be murdered his wife Libby is tried and convicted. Six years later Libby is paroled and with the help of Travis Lehman (her parole officer) she sets out to find her son and the truth behind the "murder".

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Plot Keywords:

parole officer | murder | blood | insurance policy | prison | 

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Taglines:

Murder isn't always a crime.

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, a scene of sexuality and some violence

Details

Country:

USA Germany Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doble riesgo

Filming Locations:

820 St. Louis Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,287,911 (UK) (28 January 2000)

Gross:

$116,735,231 (USA) (17 March 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Company I. Produktions KG, Province of British Columbia Production Services Tax Credit

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to director Bruce Beresford, Robert Benton did an uncredited ten day re-write shortly before production began.

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Goofs

When Libby phones Angela in San Francisco (from in prison), you can see the top of the Hotel Vancouver (in British Columbia), through the window in Angela's apartment.

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Quotes

Travis Lehman: Oh yeah, she's very pretty, for a convicted murderer. I just came here as a professional courtesy since she's in New Orleans and plans on killing one of your prominent citizens.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.90 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"That's Enough Of That Stuff"
Written & Performed by Marcia Ball
Courtesy of Rounder Records
By Arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group

User Reviews

great Drama thriller

This movie by Australian director is now a weekly DVD but definitely worth seeing. Ashley Judd plays Elizabeth "Libby" Parsons who loses her husband, Nick, during a Yachting trip with him. During the police investigation it is discovered that Nick was in a financial crisis at the time of his death but left a two million dollar life insurance policy collect. Suddenly a whole set of evidence is produced to reinforce the allegation that she had a motive to murder her husband and she is convicted of murder. There is a plot problem that in reality she would have to wait seven years if he went missing from a boat before the claim was paid and it would be unlikely she would be convicted of murder without corroborating witness testimony from an independent party. Nonetheless somehow she is convicted of her husbands murder and it provides the intrigue.

In prison Libby studies law in order to prove her innocence and when she phones her friend Matty who has custody of her 4 year son she accidentally stumbles on the fact that her husband may still be alive. The insurance claim has been paid to her son and her friend can use the money in his care apparently. Libby also learns that once convicted of murder of someone that you cannot be sent to trial again over the same murder and its called "Double Jeopardy" in legal terms. Libby is determined to hunt down her Husband for what he has done when she is released.

Libby is released into supervised sentence under parole officer Travis Lehman ( Tommy Lee Jones) but escapes custody and sets out to track down her husband to prove her innocence.

There is lots of action and Ashley Judd is such a great actress that you become emotional attached to her battle through the film.

Tommy Lee Jones also performs well in his role as he breaks ranks to assist Ashley in quest to be reunited with her son in freedom.