Doppelmord (1999)

Doppelmord: Directed by Bruce Beresford. With Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd, Benjamin Weir, Jay Brazeau. A woman framed for her husband’s murder suspects he is still alive; as she has already been tried for the crime, she can’t be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.

“Elizabeth Parsons has a rich husband and a young son. When she wakes up on their luxury yacht with blood everywhere and her husband nowhere to be found, she is suspected of his murder to get the life insurance. While serving 6 years, she discovers that her husband is very much alive. She learns that she canu0026#39;t be tried for his murder since she already has been, and begins to plan his death and how to get her husband back.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDespite that fact that the whole film is summed up in the title I decided to watch it anyway. So really there is very little drama for much of the film as we all know what sheu0026#39;s doing and where the film is going. The plot could have been lifted from any number of video thrillers – all it needed was a little nudity and it could have been an erotic thriller for late night TV! As it stood, the bigger budget, higher production values and bigger stars helped the film actually rise a little above the material and seem to be much glossier and impressive than it actually was. The stunts and effects worked well and the direction was of a higher calibre than youu0026#39;d see on the bottom shelf, but it is still a very ordinary thriller if you strip all the polish away.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast try hard but they have little to work with. An unnecessary role from Tommy Lee Jones helps keep the filmu0026#39;s pace up by turning it into a cat and mouse chase of sorts, but mostly it is pretty dull. Judd is OK in the lead but doesnu0026#39;t do anything to justify her fee I reckon. Support from Mafia is so lame that it looks like she is almost falling asleep while giving her lines! The film relies on pace and tension which it mostly gets by flipping cars around for little reason and for putting Elizabeth in slightly (!) unlikely situations then getting her out of them. The legal interest in the plot actually falls to pieces when you think about it, but the film is clever enough never to take itu0026#39;s central idea further than a few lines of dialogue before rendering the argument null and void.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall I was struck by just how ordinary and dull the whole film was. If I had seen this film as a low budget video thriller I still wouldnu0026#39;t have liked it but I may have accepted it for what it is. This film just exposed itu0026#39;s own weaknesses by virtue of pushing to be a product much grander than itu0026#39;s plot deserved.”