{"id":5772,"date":"2013-08-31T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-31T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=5772"},"modified":"2023-03-28T19:12:24","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T23:12:24","slug":"double-jeopardy-is-one-rewrite-away-from-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/double-jeopardy-is-one-rewrite-away-from-working\/","title":{"rendered":"Double Jeopardy was one rewrite away from being a thrilling thriller"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Not to imply that screenwriting and revision are easy, but Bruce Beresford’s Double Jeopardy<\/em> is only one rewrite away from being a decent action thriller. The elevator pitch is obvious enough (The Fugitive<\/a><\/em>… but with a lady!), but it truly does have a killer hook: jilted woman \u2013 framed for a murder that not only did she not commit, it didn’t even happen \u2013 is legally free to actually commit the crime if she wishes. Give it a solid cast (Ashley Judd<\/a> and Tommy Lee Jones<\/a> in roles they could both do in their sleep), and it should have been a home run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ashley<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It does all start out rather well, surely better than its generally poor Letterboxd reviews<\/a> would imply. But the plot holes and implausibilities quickly pile up and you find out why people hate it. There are lots of issues to point to, but I was frustrated by its two biggest problems:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, the failure to identify what should have been the core of the story: Tommy Lee Jones’ character coming around to believing his quarry may be innocent. Instead, he simply pursues her for a while, and suddenly offhandedly mentions near the end that he figures she didn’t do it. What should have been a key story beat was underplayed to the point of almost vanishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, the final confrontation makes no logical sense. If Judd and Jones find the supposedly-dead murder victim alive and well, then problem solved, right? Simply drag him in front of a judge and all of Judd’s problems go away. But no, instead they propose some sort of insane double-wrap-around reverse\/inverse blackmail scheme that makes no sense whatsoever, which produces a scuffle and then she just shoots him anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suspect the filmmakers were working backwards from a premise they were too attached to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not to imply that screenwriting and revision are easy, but Bruce Beresford’s Double Jeopardy is only one rewrite away from being a decent action thriller. The elevator pitch is obvious enough (The Fugitive… but with a lady!), but it truly does have a killer hook: jilted woman \u2013 framed for a murder that not only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,2],"tags":[1952,1972,1971,1221],"class_list":["post-5772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2-stars","category-movies","tag-1952","tag-ashley-judd","tag-bruce-beresford","tag-tommy-lee-jones"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/double-jeopardy.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-1v6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5769,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/william-friedkins-the-hunted\/","url_meta":{"origin":5772,"position":0},"title":"William Friedkin’s The Hunted is solid but unsatisfying","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"After watching too many sloppily-made thrillers filling up space on Netflix (including Mercury Rising, Double Jeopardy, and Along Came a Spider), it's a relief the my next choice, The Hunted, is so solidly made. You really can't expect anything less from William Friedkin. So why is it so unsatisfying? First,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones in The Hunted","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hunted.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hunted.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hunted.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hunted.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/hunted.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5718,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/tommy-lee-jones-doesnt-bargain-or-negotiate-in-the-fugitive\/","url_meta":{"origin":5772,"position":1},"title":"Tommy Lee Jones doesn’t bargain or negotiate in The Fugitive","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"September 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"??? Everyone remembers Andrew Davis' The Fugitive for Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones' chemistry (despite rarely sharing the screen) and its iconic action pieces (especially the train and dam sequences). But all of this must hang upon a plot framework, and the lopsided movie's momentum dissipates as it gets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Harrison Ford in The Fugitive","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/fugitive.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":306,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-three-burials-of-melquiades-estrada\/","url_meta":{"origin":5772,"position":2},"title":"Tommy Lee Jones’ almost unbearably gruesome The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Tommy Lee Jones' The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada joins Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man as one of my few highly-rated westerns. Like Dead Man, its tone meanders from the darkly comic to the melodramatic, and is at times almost unwatchably gruesome. Which does nothing to explain why I liked it,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/three-burials.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/three-burials.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/three-burials.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/three-burials.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/three-burials.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":755,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/in-the-valley-of-elah\/","url_meta":{"origin":5772,"position":3},"title":"David vs. Goliath in Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In the Valley of Elah is a dark story about the psychological damage of war, certainly not a recipe for an entertaining night at the movies. This blogger will cop to finding it difficult to work up the enthusiasm to sit down for a movie on such a troubling topic,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/in-the-valley-of-elah-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/in-the-valley-of-elah-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/in-the-valley-of-elah-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/in-the-valley-of-elah-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/in-the-valley-of-elah-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6275,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/laurence-olivier-wrestles-gregory-peck-in-the-boys-from-brazil\/","url_meta":{"origin":5772,"position":4},"title":"Laurence Olivier wrestles Gregory Peck in The Boys From Brazil","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"December 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Franklin J. Schaffner's The Boys From Brazil is one of those they-don't-make-them-that-way-anymore that I miss: the paranoid thriller that blends sci-fi with politics. I'm thinking Coma, The Manchurian Candidate, and Jacob's Ladder. It's often a fool's errand to complain about plausibility in genre flicks, but I think internal consistency is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Boys From Brazil","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/boys-from-brazil-poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/boys-from-brazil-poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/boys-from-brazil-poster.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/boys-from-brazil-poster.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/boys-from-brazil-poster.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":743,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/se-jie-lust-caution\/","url_meta":{"origin":5772,"position":5},"title":"Ang Lee’s very un-titillating erotic thriller Se, jie (Lust, Caution)","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"April 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As a public service, this blog would like to issue a warning to anyone that under the impression that Se, jie (Lust, Caution) is an NC-17 erotic thriller. Judging from the marketing campaign alone, one might understandably imagine that the latest film from the director of Sense & Sensibility and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lust, Caution","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/lust-caution-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5772"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8485,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5772\/revisions\/8485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}