BB.5
(out of 5)
Ashley Judd became a huge movie star when this lame thriller went number one at the box office for three weekends in a row. As a woman who is wrongly accused of murdering her husband when she blacks out on their yacht and wakes up to a bloody knife and no body, she’s lovely, brilliant and strong. Too bad the movie lets her down repeatedly: plot points like shoving her in a gothic Anne Rice-style New Orleans graveyard will be too ridiculous for some. While in jail, Judd discovers that her husband had faked his death for the money, and so plans to get him back when she gets out; after all, she could really kill him now that she can’t be tried for the same crime twice. Finding herself on parole, Judd lives in a halfway house run by Tommy Lee Jones (who basically emailed his performance from The Fugitive to the producers of this film) but escapes quickly to exact her revenge. The film’s main theme (and title) aren’t even used in the eventual denouement, robbing audiences of the pleasure of what they’ve been promised. If you liked An Eye for An Eye, you’ll just love this one.
Paramount Pictures, MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Company I. Produktions KG, British Columbia Production Services Tax Credit
Directed by Bruce Beresford
Screenplay by David Weisberg, Douglas Cook
Cinematography by Peter James
Produced by Leonard Goldberg
Music by Normand Corbeil
Production Design by Howard Cummings
Costume Design by Linda M. Bass, Rudy Dillon
Film Editing by Mark Warner
