The Firelight Shocks DVD Review Section

Double Jeopardy Distributor: Paramount Region: 2 Ratio: 2.35.1 (Enhanced for widescreen televisions) Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo

Tense, well-made big budget suspense thriller with notable leanings towards the work of Hitchcock and the classic noirs of John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, The Asphalt Jungle, Key Largo et al). Double Jeopardy is also in the trend of such contemporary mainstream thrillers as Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction and Sleeping with the Enemy - all of which tore open the curtains of wealthy, cosmopolitan American life in order to expose domestic abuse, adultery and violence behind the guise of respectability. Essentially a modern noir with colourful, widescreen photography and a run down ex-lawyer replacing the Sam Spade role of yore (Tommy Lee Jones in his umpteenth brilliant performance), Double Jeopardy stakes its claim as one of the most exciting dramas of recent years. Ashley Judd (Heat, Kiss the Girls) plays the wife of wealthy businessman Bruce Greenwood. Judd is wrongly accused of her husband's murder and banged up behind bars for six years. Leaving behind her infant son in the hands of Annabeth Gish (from Mystic Pizza), Judd is infuriated to find out that Greenwood in fact faked his own death and now lives with Gish in San Francisco (although he gets rid off her too). Apparently unable to do anything about this ever so slight miscarriage of justice, Judd instead hears of a legal loophole, whilst still in prison, called 'double jeopardy', which maintains that no one can be convicted of the same crime twice. When released from incarceration, it comes as no surprise when she hops probation and high tails it around America in search of her husband and son, knowing full well that she is now in a position to literally get away with murder. Tommy Lee Jones plays the alcoholic ex-lawyer who tracks Judd's every move before inevitably becoming her accomplice in searching out Greenwood and giving him what for. Double Jeopardy certainly has its share of plot holes, and Judd plays her role a bit too restrained and with far too much assurance and self-confidence - hardly what you would expect from a woman who has been locked in a cell for six years. In saying that though, this is still a tremendous thriller, with at least two really outstanding set pieces. This is classy, Hollywood entertainment and none the worse for it. Although the end result is a bit disappointing, getting there equals one of the most purely enjoyable experiences I've had in front of the DVD player for some time. Highly suspenseful stuff, from the director who previously brought you Driving Miss Daisy and Her Alibi!

The Disc: You can watch the movie in more languages than you could ever learn to speak in three lifetimes. Apart from that there is little to be excited about - a trailer and a thirteen-minute making of documentary. This is definitely an example of a big studio going to no bother. Shame on them. Sound and picture quality is exemplary, as you'd no doubt expect.