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This formula 'thriller' is predictable and with a plot like
Swiss cheese but has just enough going for it to keep me entertained
until the end.
The plot, for what it's worth, revolves around Libby Parsons
(Ashley Judd) who seems to have an idyllic life with her husband
and 5 year old son. This is shattered when her husband Nick
goes missing while they are on a sailing trip together. Libby
is promptly convicted for his murder (by the brilliant legal
deduction that it wasn't pirates or aliens so it must have been
her) and sent away to a luxurious looking prison. While in the
big house she discovers that Nick is still alive and has run
off with her best friend Angela (Annabeth Gish) . She is understandably
distraught by this news but she is comforted when the prison's
resident legal genius tells her about USA's double jeopardy
law. This states that you cannot be convicted of the same crime
twice, therefore if she ever got out she would be able to kill
Nick and there would be no repercussions.
Libby knows that convicts are trustworthy sources of legal
advice so she promptly sets about a rigorous Linda Hamilton
style exercise regime in the prison's 5 star gym to get herself
into shape so that she will be able to fire a gun when she gets
out. Despite the fact that society believes she is a cold blooded
killer, she is paroled after 6 years and sent to a parole house
run by Travis Lehman (Tommy Lee Jones).
The rest of the movie follows Libby as she tries to track down
Nick and is pursused by Lehman (using all the skills that he
picked up in his former life as US Marshall Sam Gerard in the
Fugitive and US Marshalls). The other parolees presumably have
a field day as Lehman is out of town for weeks chasing Libby
so nobody will be left to enforce the 8:30pm curfew.
Almost every move in this film is telegraphed and predictable.
However, the main actors are all charismatic enough to carry
the film and engage the audience's attention. This makes it
fairly easy watching and possibly explains Double Jeopardy's
huge success in the USA.
An easy viewing no brainer action movie. Even the main characters
don't have to think much.
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