Netflix And Chill: Double Jeopardy (1999)

In case you didn't know, double jeopardy is a legal term that, apparently, means you cannot be arrested and judged for the same crime twice. There's more nuance to it than that, and I am in no way offering any kind of legal advice here, but that's what this film wants you to believe. So, for example, if your husband framed you for his murder while he disappeared and started a whole new life then you could, once out of prison, track him down and shoot him in the middle of a crowd without anyone being able to do a damn thing about it. Apparently. And that is the premise for what turns out to be a very enjoyable thriller from the late '90s.

Ashley Judd plays Libby, a woman who has her world rocked when she wakes up one morning to find blood everywhere, a knife nearby, and no sign of her husband (Bruce Greenwood). She is found guilty of his murder, and serves six years of a prison sentence before showing enough contrition to get herself out on parole. She knows that her husband isn't dead though. She wants to find him, and she wants to reunite with her son, Matty. All that her parole officer wants, however, is a peaceful life, and the fact that her parole officer is played by Tommy Lee Jones ensures that Libby would be unwise to start breaking any rules.

Directed by Bruce Beresford, who has a lengthy film career stretching back decades, but may still hold this film up as a real highlight, Double Jeopardy is very enjoyable nonsense. The fact that it has some level of self-awareness, thanks to the screenplay by David Weisberg and Douglas Cook, helps a lot, especially when you start to wonder about certain repercussions that are then shown mere moments later (almost as if the writers allow you to have a moment to consider things before winking and letting you know that they've given some thought to keeping the whole thing both entertaining and at least slightly plausible).

It also helps that Judd and Jones are both fantastic in their lead roles. Judd moves from entirely sweet and innocent to righteous and tenacious, and everyone watching will want to see her succeed, while Jones gives us the kind of gruff and "slowly and surely" hunter that he basically perfected in The Fugitive. Greenwood is enjoyably smarmy and dangerous, and there's an enjoyably pivotal role for Annabeth Gish, who ends up committing the major error that sets Judd's character on her determined quest for revenge/reparation.

A third act set in New Orleans helps to keep things interesting and lively, there are a number of scenes that have a surprisingly good dollop of wit in the mix (our lead being hit on by someone who helps her with an internet search is perhaps the first example, and made me properly chuckle), and the whole thing may just make you nostalgic for these smaller, but still star-powered, movies that we sadly don't seem to see any more. It's also a reminder of how good Judd was in the prime roles she was given throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

7/10

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She Said (2022)

It's always good to see a movie about investigative journalism, not least due to the fact that any such movie serves as a reminder that we still HAVE some investigative journalism. I cannot think of a time when the quest for truth and justice has been more noble, especially when juxtaposed against "news" that is simply made up of repurposed social media quotes, sensational headlines that are designed as clickbait, and opinion pieces placing the outlets in whatever "culture war" position they think will be most profitable for them. I enjoyed Spotlight from a few years ago, but She Said may just edge ahead of it as the better movie, perhaps because the story it is telling was picked up more eagerly by every major news outlet once the details were widely available.

Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan play Jodi Kanto and Megan Twohey, respectively, two investigative journalists who work for the New York Times. Their names may be familiar to you. They are the two people who pulled together various witness testimonies to build up a picture of sexual abuse, manipulation, and bullying that eventually landed Harvey Weinstein in prison. This film details how the story broke, and how it took the courage of victims to come forward and tell their truth, helping others to subsequently realise that they weren't alone, and that they could also come forward and do their bit to help make a criminal pay for his heinous crimes.

The talented Rebecca Lenkiewicz delivers another very good screenplay, helped by the book co-written by Kantor and Twohey, and Maria Schrader directs well, keeping her shot choice and framing interesting, without being distractingly overly stylised, and she knows to keep the focus on her cast delivering the pertinent points and evidence-backed facts.

Kazan is good, solid in her role, but Mulligan is given some better moments and is the better of the two leads (and it feels like a dry companion piece to her superb work in Promising Young Woman). Patricia Clarkson and Andre Braugher are both very good in supporting roles, playing the New York Times senior staff members who allow the story to be investigated, and ensure that everything complies with legal requirements, and you have Keilly McQuail delivering a fine impression of Rose McGowan over the phone, Samantha Morton being very effective in her one main scene, as Zelda Perkins, Jennifer Ehle portraying Laura Madden, a pivotal figure in the development of the story, and Ashley Judd as herself, a movie role that I suspect may have been very cathartic and satisfying for her to play.

She Said doesn't only show the hard work and sensitivity that was required in handling such a shocking exposé, it also shows how events and public figures seemed to create the darkest possible moment for women everywhere. Things aren't exactly sweetness and light now, of course, but it feels like 2016 - 2020 were years in which misogyny and abuse seemed at an all-time high. Assholes were emboldened by one of their own being elected President, and a general change in language and tone showed that what should have been a unifying movement, the #metoo campaign, was going to be used as another line in the sand for those individuals wanting to lash out at everyone as they tried to plant their "not all men" flag on a hill that really didn't need it.

There may not be anything flashy or too memorable here, not when it comes to the film-making itself, but this is an excellent film that serves as an essential snapshot. It's a snapshot of bravery, tenacity, and good grace held by those standing up to an abusive bully (who surely thought he was untouchable). It's a snapshot of a moment when the tide turned. It may have only been for a few brief seconds, but it turned. 

8/10

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Kiss The Girls (1997)

I had seen Kiss The Girls some years ago, or had at least seen enough of it to know how everything played out. And then I forgot everything that happened in it. Or so I thought. As the opening credits started to play out, I remembered one or two important plot points, making my revisit a fairly disappointing and pointless experience.

It's not that this is a bad film. It's just a textbook example of this kind of '90s thriller. They may have tried to get a bit darker and edgier after the success of Seven, almost exactly halfway through the decade, but the basic ingredients were the same. You had a smart detective who could think more steps ahead than the other officers around him (and, yes, it was more often than not a male character in the lead), you had a couple of decent players in supporting roles to provide a red herring or two, and also a main villain, and you had a female who either escaped the killer or assisted the detective, or indeed both. Most, if not all, of these tropes can be found in this film, and in films such as The Bone Collector, Color Of Night, Insomnia, Striking Distance (Willis again), and in a few others. The tropes could be subverted for erotic thrillers (e.g. the detective often being the character a couple of steps behind everyone else), and there are an equal number of movies that are notably different (mainly with female leads, such as The Silence Of The Lambs, Copycat, and Blue Steel), but you get the gist of what I am saying.

Morgan Freeman plays Detective Alex Cross, a forensic psychologist who becomes very personally involved in a major case when his niece goes missing. She is one of a number of girls taken by a criminal who goes by the name of Casanova. Helped by local law enforcement (Bill Nunn and Cary Elwes are here, Brian Cox is the Chief), the investigation doesn't seem to be moving forward until one of Casanova's most recent victims (Ashley Judd) manages to escape from his lair. She's determined to help bring her captor to justice, but can she trust her own memories of that traumatic episode?

Based on the best-seller by James Patterson, Kiss The Girls succeeds most in the casting department. The script by David Klass is servicable enough, admirably ticking all of those boxes mentioned above, but a lesser cast would, I suspect, have left this struggling to find an audience. Freeman and Judd are the leads, the former trying to piece together the puzzle while the latter uses her special position to help the investigation maintain momentum. Cox, Nunn, and Elwes all do well enough in their roles, and there's also a small, but impressive, turn from Tony Goldwyn and an even smaller role for the always-welcome Jeremy Piven.

The second theatrical feature for director Gary Fleder (who had previously done some TV work before delivering the highly enjoyable Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead), this is a safe and competent film that creeps close to darker territory at times before deciding not to wade in any further. That fault may lie with the source material, Patterson is certainly one of those prolific crime writers I can imagine does so well because he doesn't scare away all of his readers but I am sure it's easier to describe something grisly on the page than it is to show it onscreen, but it's a shame that neither Klass nor Fleder decided to push things a bit. Even the one moment that shows Alex Cross being affected by someone who gets under his skin hints at missed opportunities, considering how personal the case is for him (something all too easy to forget for most of the runtime).

I don't think I ever saw Along Came A Spider, which sees Freeman returning to the role, and I know I haven't yet seen Alex Cross. I'll be marking them off the list in the next few weeks.

6/10

You can buy a double-bill of Freeman Alex Cross movies here.
Americans can get a blu here.