This Sneaky Good Thriller Is Crushing It On Netflix

Along with big-budget disaster flicks and edgy rom-coms, thrillers with a strong female lead were a huge part of the cinema landscape in the 1990s. Whether it was Sandra Bullock tracking down conspiracies in The Net or Julia Roberts escaping an abusive spouse in Sleeping with the Enemy, audiences were eager to see women taking on nefarious men. Few films personified this trend as well as the Ashley-Judd-and-Tommy-Lee-Jones-starring revenge tale Double Jeopardy. Beware: there are spoilers ahead.

In the film, Judd plays the quiet and kind Libby Parsons, whose wealthy husband Nick vanishes while they're alone on a boat. Although Libby is clueless as to what's happening, she's eventually convicted of Nick's murder and sent to prison. But, plot twist, Nick is very much alive, and he purposefully framed Libby for his death. After one of her fellow inmates clues her into the legal concept of double jeopardy, the idea that someone can't be tried twice for the same crime, Libby vows to use this loophole to make sure Nick doesn't get the chance to enjoy the new life he's created for himself. The plan: She'll falsely admit to murdering Nick in order to be released from prison on good behavior, then kill Nick for real, as she's already been tried and convicted for that particular crime.

While the core idea of Double Jeopardy is, well, not exactly legally airtight, who really cares? The movie is an enjoyable slice of late '90s thriller fun, which is probably why it's currently on the list of top 10 movies on Netflix.

But back when it came out, the movie took a beating from critics.

The late Roger Ebert was more charitable than many in his two-and-a-half star review, though he still called the film,

"...not a successful thriller, but with some nice dramatic scenes along with the dumb mystery and contrived conclusion."

Entertainment Weekly described the movie as "toothless" and "a strained reworking of The Fugitive."

Reel Views wrote,

"Unfortunately, this movie is too focused on action, melodrama, and plot twists to allow for more than a moment's intelligence to worm its way into the script."

Despite the middling reviews, the movie was a hit with audiences. It spent several weeks at number 1 at the US box office, and it raked in nearly $178 million across the globe. Considering its current popularity on Netflix, it's clear that something about Double Jeopardy has always connected with the general public, despite the silly plot. Reviews credited Ashley Judd for her performance. Though Reel Views critiqued the movie as a whole, they did lavish praise on Judd's performance, saying,

"Ashley Judd almost makes Libby credible. In fact, the actress is so good that, against all odds, we like the character even though she only uses about 1% of her brain cells."

Double Jeopardy has gone on to become one of Judd's most noteworthy roles, but her part in the film originally went to another actress. According to an interview in Urban Cinefile with the film's director, Jodie Foster was originally attached. He explained,

"She fell out of the project, because she got pregnant, and we had to recast. That's how Ashley Judd wound up in it."

Second choice or not, the movie helped cement Judd's status as a go-to star for thrillers with tough women at their center. Before Double Jeopardy, she starred in Kiss the Girls, along with Morgan Freeman, a film based on a popular James Patterson novel which sees Freeman's Detective Alex Cross on the hunt for a serial killer named Casanova. Judd plays a would-be victim of Casanova who manages to escape, and then partners with Cross to help him track down the killer.

After Double Jeopardy, Judd teamed up with Freeman again for High Crimes, where she plays a lawyer who finds out her husband has been hiding his participation in war crimes. And following that, she starred in Twisted as a San Francisco police officer with a drinking problem who finds herself at the center of a conspiracy when her former lovers keep turning up murdered. Unfortunately, Twisted is also notorious for having a one percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

But clearly, even over two decades since the release of Double Jeopardy, audiences are still connecting with her portrayal of a woman hell-bent on revenge.

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Read the full article here: https://www.looper.com/224207/the-underrated-90s-suspense-film-thats-killing-it-on-netflix/