Double Jeopardy

I was flicking channels a few nights ago and came across this movie I stayed watching because I am a big fan of Terri Garr (and I thought that this was the theatrical film "Double Jeapordy"), But this film holds well on it's own. Everyone in the cast is superb and this film should have more people writing about it.

I caught this movie while I was channel surfing one afternoon when it seemed like nothing good was on TV, and while I don't like watching Lifetime Movies all that well, I took a chance on the movie. To my surprise I loved it. Not only was this movie tragic,it was also based on a true story,which is what attracted me to the movie even more.

This is your typical Lifetime movie for women who can't get a date on a friday night. The story is as lame as most of the movies how Men are pigs and all women are innocent even after they are sentenced and found guilty. Much of the acting is lame and unwatchable. Still, Brit Murphy holds the audiences attention even when she's not talking. Hard to believe this was made eight years ago, Murphy has changed a lot in her acting style and appearance. Murphy is an example that actors need to have a presence that holds the audiences attention. You could be a great actor of the stage and have no problem saying lines and performing in front of thousands of people. But without having a presence in your speech and body language, you fail to be an amazing actor. Although Victim of the Night (Double Jeopardy) is one of Murphy's not so great films, she is terrific in it and is one of the very few reasons to watch.

I've had a mad crush on Brittany Murphy since I first saw her, in "Drive". I don't think I've ever seen so mesmerizing a combination of crazy, sexy, cute, innocent, impish, and vaguely dangerous. Me = smitten. She does it again here, with a tragic twist. It's hard to watch her now, and especially so in this one where her character dies young, knowing that she really did die young. RIP, you beautiful nut. <:'-( Gone oh, so much too soon.

FTR, I agree with the others who prefer her hair dark. It suited her so well. She somehow plays a perfect brunette blonde, if that makes any sense.

But anyway... this movie is very immersive, I think mostly due to the strong characters and the intensity of the developing situation. There's something about tragedy that is hard to look away from, and Brittany's charmingly dangerous innocence made her perfect for this role, as it drew the two together and also led to her poor decision-making, which put her at risk from her psycho lover. Just like Dubroski, we (or at least I) can't look away from her, even though there are red flags flying around this possible romance between them.

Some have complained of slow pacing, but I didn't notice that.

The review from the friend of the drummer son-in-law is interesting. Is the real-life Dubroski truly innocent? If so, I agree that a follow-up would make a good film, depicting "the rest of the story" or whatever. Still, this movie tells a story which, regardless of whether it's entirely true to the real-life events upon which it's based, does resonate.

The rest of the cast were also very good. Terri Garr in particular was a great choice for Mrs. Dubroski.

My cable company described this as the theatrical "Double Jeopardy" which I had not seen. After about 20 minutes, I suspected this was the wrong "Double Jeopardy" and felt a bit cheated. But, the story held my interest and the performance of the actors overcame the low budget cinematography.

For a 'made for television' movie, it was better than most but would not have done well on the big screen. Still, well worth taking a look at if the opportunity arises.