Double Jeopardy

DOUBLE JEOPARDY —** — Ashley Judd, Tommy Lee Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Annabeth Gish, Roma Maffia, Davenia McFadden, Spencer Treat Clark; rated R (profanity, violence, gore, sex, brief nudity, vulgarity); Carmike 12, Cottonwood Mall, Plaza 5400 and Ritz 15 Theaters; Century Theatres 16; Cinemark Sandy Movies 9; Gateway 8 Cinemas; Loews Cineplex Crossroads Plaza Cinemas; Redwood Drive-in (with "The General's Daughter"); Reel Theatres.

When there's no suspense in a thriller, all that's left is the thrills. And unfortunately, "Double Jeopardy" has little in the way of either.

Part of the blame lies with the film's overly revealing trailers, which basically show the bulk of the movie in 2 1/2 minutes. But filmmaker Bruce Beresford also has to shoulder some of the blame for this fiasco, since his unimaginative direction ensures that few scenes have the required punch, or even the needed emotional pull, for that matter.

Of course, it's not as if he's working with A-grade material here. The plot is something straight out of a made-for-television movie on the Lifetime cable network — but somehow even more divorced from reality, if that's possible.

(If you hadn't guessed already, the premise that drives the film is based on faulty legal logic. And there are plot holes big enough to drive a fleet of diesel trucks through.)

What's particularly irritating is that this contrived mess squanders the talents of a pretty decent cast, including Ashley Judd, who stars as Libby Parsons, a young mother of one whose life is turned upside-down in a hurry.

While aboard a small sailboat, her husband Nick (Bruce Greenwood) disappears in the middle of the night, leaving only bloody foot and handprints and a knife that suggests he was murdered.

So guess who the prime suspect is?

Not too surprisingly, Libby is quickly convicted of the crime and sentenced to prison, though she does try to keep in contact with her young son, who has been adopted by her best friend, Angie (Annabeth Gish). And while talking to the boy on the phone, she discovers Nick may actually be alive and may now be married to her former pal.

Needless to say, Libby is consumed with thoughts of revenge, even after she is paroled into the custody of Travis Lehman (Tommy Lee Jones), a halfway-house director who senses trouble from the minute she arrives.

And he's right. Within days, Libby violates her parole and goes on the lam in the hope of getting her son back and having that inevitable showdown with her "deceased" husband — believing that legal technicalities will prevent her from being convicted a second time should she choose to kill him "again."