I rented this film from the video shop lastnite, having seen a trailor for it when watching Rules Of Engagement on Sunday nite (no,i'm not usually a video-aholic!). I was after some good entertainment for the evening, and i was satisfied that this film provided me with that (unlike X men when i fell to sleep too many times to count last weekend!).
I'll try not to spoil the plot too much-most things i comment on will be seen in the first section of the film, so hopefully i wont spoil enjoyment.
THE PLOT The scene is set with an idealic husband Nic, wife Elizabeth (Ashley Judd) and young son Matty, living in a very 'nice' house, and they appear to be quite well off. The husband lures his wife away on a sailing weekend, and she awakes in the night to find her husband gone, and herself covered in blood, holding a knife as the Coastguard arrive.
Elizabeth is duely tried and convicted of her husbands murder, and is sent to prison. She entrusts the care of her son with her best friend.
While in prison she continually protests her innocence, and becomes suspicious of whether her husband is really dead, after certain incidents occur.
While in prison, we see Elizabeth settle in once she has a crucial conversation with another in mate-an ex-lawyer. She informs Elizabeth about an ammendment to the Constitution, saying that once she has served time for her husbands murder, she cannot be tried again for the same crime-i.e. once she gets out, she can quite publically kill Nic, and there is nothing the authorities could do.
6 years later, and she is released on parole, a very determined woman. This is where the story really kicks in, and i wont spoil the plot any further. We follow her struggles to track down her husband and son, all the time battling against her strict parole officer Lehman (Tommy Lee Jones).
OVERALL The acting by Jones is top class, as would be expected, but im afraid to say i dont really rate Ashley Judd. I watched the film with 2 males, and had to endure their dribbling everytime she came into shot-ok, shes pretty, but she needs to go to stage school! The rest of the actors are pretty well unknowns, but did the job-especially her husband-he was a plausible 'baddie'.
The weren't really any special effects to speak of, and the direction of the film was pretty standard.
The overall result to Elizabeths struggle is quite predictable, but how she gets there isnt quite as straight forward as i had imagined it would be-theres no great twist in the plot, but its not too obvious how she does what she does!(vague, but again, not wanting to spoil things)
The film offered good entertainment for the evening, and from a womans point of view it was quite satisfying. Haivng watched it once, and seen the plot, im unlikely to want to see it again-its no classic, but its certainly very watchable.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1981 - Drama - Director: Franco Zeffirelli - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Penelope Milford, Beatrice Straight
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Ang Lee - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Hugh Laurie, Robert Hardy
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Young Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) is happy as a clam, and why not? She's got a loving, ... more
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 ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Young Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) is happy as a clam, and why not? She's got a loving, ... more
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 ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks...
The chase is on! Ashley Judd shines in this unstoppable, untoppable box-office smash that ... more
co-stars Tommy Lee Jones in his best performance since The Fugitive.Judd plays Libby Parsons, who discovers that the husband she's convicted of murdering staged h...
![Double Jeopardy [DVD] [1999]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78501094.jpg "Double Jeopardy [DVD] [1999]")
![Double Jeopardy - Dvd [2000]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78545905.jpg "Double Jeopardy - Dvd [2000]")
very helpful by (100%):
