Suspension of disbelief is a prerequisite for any regular film watcher, and even a remarkably implausible film can get away with a great deal provided that it's well done. So I fully bought into the premise of Bruce Beresford's revenge fantasy, which suggests that its heroine, wrongly imprisoned for the faked murder of her scheming husband, could exact retribution by killing the scoundrel without fear of criminal punishment. This is, needless to say, utterly ridiculous. The concept of double jeopardy, where one cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime, does exist, but even someone whose entirely legal background consists of viewings of Judge Judy could punch a mile-wide hole through this argument. (The most obvious of which would be, err, a murder committed six years ago isn't exactly the same crime as one committed here and now, even if the perpetrator and the alleged victim are)
The plot:
Umm...see the above, it's the only thing resembling an original idea in the entire film. The remainder is an overfamiliar, TV-movie-type experience, lacking any sense of subtlety or propulsion. (Near the end of her six-year prison term, Ashley Judd's heroine Libby frets about her son, who's disappeared along with her absconded husband. "I wonder if he'll recognize me," she wonders,without cause it turns out, since neither she nor anybody else in the film looks to have aged a day during her imprisonment) The twists and turns in the plot are completely foreseeable, and while the film attempts to distract from this by offering up scenes such as the colour of a New Orleans Mardi Gras,it's hard not to notice that it's running completely on auto-pilot. For a film presented as a thriller, the end result is less than thrilling.
The Cast:
Ashley Judd carries this film on her shoulders, but her acting talents are hardly taxed here. Now that she's proven that she can play both beautiful and determined, it's time for something a little more worthy of her abilities.
The film also features Tommy Lee Jones (actually, he's top-billed although Judd is far and away the movie's star)as a parole officer tracking down Libby before she can bump off her ex. He's pretty much a non-presence in the movie,a dull character perpetually one step behind our plucky heroine,whose distinguishing trait is his inability to prevent Libby from demolishing his motor vehicles during her string of narrow escapes!
The cast member who comes across best in this watchable, if uninspired film is Bruce Greenwood, who exudes a snaky charm as the impossibly evil husband. To increase his sliminess, the film presents us with the 'cash' factor- he not only betrays Libby; he's also wealthy, too!! (Hiss! Hiss!)
All in all, a watchable film if you don't mind the TV-movie factor.
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Sep 16th, 2001
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