The Fugitive 3

by Jason R. Hewlett

It's not hard to make comparisons between "Double Jeopardy" and Tommy lee Jones' other pursuit films "The Fugitive" and "U.S. Marshals." All three movies feature Jones tracking down a fugitive from justice and while in "Jeopardy" he plays a parole officer named Travis Lehman he might as well be U.S. Marshal Sam Gurrard. It's the same character and the same performance. Why the producers and writers didn't just use the same character is beyond me. If you've got a good thing: milk it!

Luckily "Double Jeopardy" works. Both Jones and his costar, the attractive and talented Ashley Judd, go through the motions of a chase picture in fine form and elevate what could have been a T.V. movie of the week into something a bit more.

The story involves Libby Parsons (Judd) being framed by her husband (the very unlikable Bruce Greenwood) for his own faked murder. She ends up in jail for six years and he gets the $2 million in insurance and their son Matty. Once released from prison she is put in the care of a parole officer and immediately takes off in search of her son. Naturally Lehman takes off after her.

It's all pretty standard fare really minus all the huge action set-pieces that made "The Fugitive" and "U.S. Marshals" so exciting. Still, there are a few good moments of suspense and a deathtrap that I don't want to ruin by mentioning what it is. Suffice to say it's a pretty big creep-out!

What makes the film work are the performances. Judd is surprisingly good here. She's never had to carry a movie before and her performance is very compelling and sympathetic. Jones basically phones in his work here and is only on screen for little more than 30 minutes in total but he is such a good actor that we don't really care.

As for behind the scenes: Bruce Beresford is better known for his hard edge dramas like "Breaker Morant" and while he handles the dramatic aspects of David Weisbergs and Douglas S. Cooks script with care he needs a bit of work on the action elements. As for the script itself: it's competently written but I'm surprised that cowriter Cook, who crafted the action spectacular "The Rock," didn't throw in a few more hits of adrenaline to pump up the chase a bit more.

Still, the film is entertaining and it would be hard to call it a disappointment when the parts that work are so good.

6.5 out of 10!