Double Jeopardy (1992)

Pretty good cast, Bruce Boxleitner (Mr Melissa Gilbert), Rachel Ward, and her cousin Sela Ward. However in total it is not a superb film and its median rating of "5" on IMDb is about right.some SPOILERS - This is a story of a man's weakness, giving in to sex with an old girlfriend, and how it can have far-reaching impacts. Rachel plays his old girlfriend, they had been rock climbers together, parted ways, he became a successful teacher, married Sela, a trial lawyer, soon to be a judge, and they had by all appearances a great marriage and a cute little girl. No jealousy here, they even invited the old girlfriend to dinner at their house. more SPOILERS - However, things were not what they seemed. Rachel had had her husband knocked off, and now she wanted the contract killer dead. So she seduced Boxleitner, lured him back to her place when she knew the other guy would show up for sex, made Boxy get onto the fire escape where he could witness an apparent rape and her stabbing him dead in apparent self-defense. He was forced to testify, the charges were dismissed at trial, and his wife, Sela, was thoroughly pi$$ed off, for good reason. Rachel goes rock climbing, falls and dies, and the last scene has Boxy and Sela walking towards each other, their cars parked off the road, with beautiful rock formations, presumably Canyonlands N.P., in the background. We sense that he will be forgiven and his marriage will be saved.

This movie is not very thrilling and there are no plot "twists and turns" to speak of. I don't even know why this movie is called "Double Jeopardy". The trial ends 10 minutes before the end of the movie, when everything is revealed and the movie ends. A very stupid ending as well. The only thing that will keep you guessing is when something interesting is going to happen. All the actors do a good job and the director does fine with what he has to work with, but in the end, this could have been a good movie if only they had a good script to work with.

Registering quite a bit above the typical made-for-TV potboiler, DOUBLE JEOPARDY features the fine acting of Bruce Boxleitner, Sela Ward, and Rachael Ward. The screenwriter cleverly lulls the viewer by seeming to go down predictable paths only to suddenly employ unexpected twists. The weak point of the film is the ending, which of course is a big weak point, but still this movie is worth a cable viewing.The version I saw was on TNT (a nonpremium cable network) and probably bowdlerized, so I cannot comment on the racier aspects that may have survived on some rental version.

I personally didn't think it was the best, it was kinda dumb, but it did keep you guessing. I give it a 4 out of 10. Unrated contains sexual content, violence, and some language.