The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 24, 1999 - 13
Double eopardy'
fails to thrill
Erin Podosky
)aily Arts Writer
an indeterminate time during her incarceration in prison for murdering her hus-
a Libby Parsons (Ashley Judd) runs laps around the yard. Aone. In the rain. In
he dark. Trying so hard to beef up those girlie-girl muscles with sprints and pump-
ng iron. While her two prison chick buddies root her on.
It's so original that I almost puked in my popcorn.
That's about the best that can be said for any part -- not to mention the sum - of
Double Jeopardy," a wretchedly misguided attempt to put together an edge-of-your-
seat revenge thriller starring Judd and Tommy Lee "No, I
haven't made this movie before" Jones. Libby, framed because
she's too beautiful and innocent to ever do something so nasty,
learns that she cannot be tried twice for the same crime and
Double resolves to find and murder her husband - again, because it
*eopardy apparently didn't take the first time.
* When we first meet Libby, she has a picture-perfect life:
Handsome loving husband Nick (Bruce Greenwood),
At Snawose smack-me-I'm-cute son Matty (Spencer Treat Clark),
coastal Washington home straight out of an architectural
magazine. She and Nick rent a sailboat and set out for a
weekend of hot sex.
She awakens one night to find herself covered in blood and
a trail of gore that leads to the edge of the boat and into the
deep blue sea below. Nick is missing and soon presumed dead.
Libby is frantic and soon presumed responsible. After a quick
r~she is thrown in the pen where she instantly becomes antisocial and determined
o find, if not Nick's killer, then Nick himself.
Many free weights, laps and vats of tapioca pudding later, Libby is a well-oiled
achine out on parole and on the prowl. After doing six years for the crime she did-
't commit, she arrives at a halfway house run by jowly Travis Layman, a man who
oesn't really believe in second chances but definitely believes in seeing the bottom
>f his whiskey flask. By this point in the seemingly interminable movie, all of my
opcorn is gone, which is good, because every time Layman said something either
upremely bullheaded, obnoxious or just plain old loud, I would have required the
ieimlich maneuver.
my' brings back
y Anika Kohon demean subtle complexity
>aily Arts Writer adeptly played by Amy Br
The woman's melodrama has found a new place and Neighbors," "Heat"), and
ime. We're not talking daytime drama characterized by Daly ("Cagney and Lacey'
'heating husbands or warehouse explosions, we're talk- heart-warming show.
ng about "Judging Amy" and it is on CBS at 10 p.m. Amy, recently separate
he pilot aired Sunday, Sept. 19, at 8:30, wasting no years, finds herself ba
l time establishing the dramatic Connecticut living with her
tension between mother and ployed brother, Vincent.
daughter, (both Amy with her Superior Court Judge, and t
mother, and Amy with her own old daughter's anxiety abou
Judging daughter) - a conflict all too confident, capable woma
Amy familiar to women of all ages. from her mother's over-bea
i *That the show is primarily about A family dinner scene b
CBS female relationships does not sion of Luke Skywalker as
Tuesdays at 10 p.m. preclude male viewership, In many ways this is a mic
though it is likely to appeal to a is everymother. An over-be
more progesterone-driven audi- lum swings from caring nL
ence. It is not a sappy, romantic Both are manifestations of
"chick flick," nor is it an angst- children go. This explains
tidden display of male bashing. comparative literature, wh
Either classification would washes dogs for a living. B
24-Hour Theater'
oes it all in a day
y Nick Faizone working on the play.
"We talk through it, familiarize
Many playwrights require months, them with the script and prepare it
not years, to create a story that will for the rehearsal process," Garcia
ne day be presented on the stage. explained. "We do everything to
he actors who breathe life into the bring it to the presentable stage."
lays' characters often need weeks, Then, between 1 - 2 p.m., the
not months, before they are ready actors who will be presenting the
*erform before the public. four one-act plays will arrive and
omorrow, however, in "Revenge of the characters will begin to come to
the 24-Hour life.
Theatre," these Maddy Wyatt, a Music senior who
two groups of acted in Garcia's play in last year's
artists will pre- production, said that the Saturday
Revenge of sent their talents rehearsal was a completely unique
the 24-Hour to the world experience for her because of the
Theater after just one incredible time constraints placed
Arena Theater day of practice. upon her and her fellow actors.
urday at 10 p.m. Preparation "The shortest amount of time a
W for "Revenge of normal production rehearses for is a
the 24-Hour month; I rehearsed for eight hours
''!Theatre" - a for this" Wyatt said. "(In '24-Hour
Basement Arts Theatre,') you can't memorize word
production in its for word; your goal is to get the play
fourth year - across as accurately as you can."
will commence Wyatt and her fellow actors decid-
night at 10 p.m. At that time, four ed, in what some might see as a dar-
tudent playwrights, who have been ing move, to go without scripts in the
elected through an audition, will actual production. Yet Wyatt said that
ather together in a room, each taking chances is part of what the
egnsible for creating their own audience expects when viewing the
ni-act play within 12 hours. final product.
Music junior Dave Garcia, who "The most important part of all is
enned a play for last year's "24- to have fun and take big risks," Wyatt
our Theatre" production, explained explained. "People know about the
hat while the playwriting experience conventions of '24-Hour Theatre, so
as rigorous, he knew he had three they expect a more freeform produc-
ther writers beside him going tion."
hrough the same difficulties. Wyatt added that while she fre-
"The process is a bonding experi- quently had to paraphrase Garcia's
:nca though it's also incredibly lines during the actual production,
n e," said Garcia, also Basement she still believed she and her fellow
rts' director of publicity. "You actors got across the meaning of the
ork with others toward a common play to the audience.
oal: hilarious and crazy, absolutely Garcia agreed with Wyatt, stating
razy, theatre." that while the 24-hour preparation
After the ink dries on the pages of process "was equally grueling for all
heir works, the playwrights will involved, I couldn't have been happi-
Orchestra kicks off
season with 'Czars.'
By Kate MacEwen
For the Daily
This weekend the Ann Arbor
Symphony Orchestra kicks off their
exciting 1999-2000 season with the
concert "Czars and Commissars."
The concert marks the beginning of a
season of many changes for the Ann
Arbor Orchestra. Conductor, Sam Wong
will be leaving the orchestra after seven
Courtesy of Paramount
Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones fight for their lives in "Double Jeopardy."
Long story short: Libby wants her son back, wants revenge, blah blah blah,
Layman chases her for violating parole but of course starts to believe her cocka-
mamie "I was framed!" sob story, blah blah blah, Libby runs all over the country
tracking down Nick, blah blah blah, she ends up in New Orleans because it's really
fun to make movies in New Orleans, blah blah blah. The End.
As if the utterly insipid story "Double Jeopardy" has to offer isn't bad enough,
it's so poorly directed and edited that it seems at times that whole chunks were
jaggedly removed, leaving either side of the excision flapping in the breeze. Things
don't make sense, characters wander in and out or are conveniently killed, due
process is thrown out the window and the world these characters live in generally
seems to be certainly not this one. Meanwhile, Jones phones in his performance
from wherever it is that rich movie stars move to when they don't feel like making
movies for any other reason than the paycheck, and Judd slogs through yet anoth-
er role pretending that just because she's pretty she's a quality actress who has a
vocal range beyond purely deadpan.
This is not a fun romp as a jilted wife chases after her conniving husband and
poor little boy. This is a calculatedly awful portrayal of the dissolution of a life, and
its very existence is an affront to good writing and decent filmmaking. "Double
Jeopardy" is a perfect reminder as to why we can never drop our guard against cel-
luloid crud. Just because we're entering Oscar season doesn't mean that every film
is worth the hype.
oman's melodrama
Czars and
Commissars
Michigan Theater
Tomorrow at 8 p.m.
years. The 1999-
2000 season will
have a series of
guest conductors
to precede Wong.
The opening con-
cert features
guest conductor
Arthur Post. Post,
currently the resi-
dent conductor of
the New World
Symphony in
Florida, will lead
the orchestra and
piano soloist Rob
University to bring the arts into the
community. This season, the orchestra
will collaborate with the University's
Center for South and Southeast Asian
Studies.
With the help of Judith Becler, the
director of the Gamalon Ensemble,
Bonnie Brereton education director, and
Charlie Sullivan, education and =rants
coordinator, the Gamelan Ensemble and
the Ann Arbor Orchestra will perform a
Japanese percussion work written by
graduate student Gabriel Ian Gotld for
the two ensembles.
Part of this performance includes
community outreach. The performance
will be given for secondary school stu-
dents along with a lesson in Asian cul-
ture and music. The curriculum was co-
written by developers for education for
the orchestra and members c the
Center for South and Southeast Asian
Studies program.
Along with working with the
University, the Ann Arbor Symphony
Orchestra remains active in its outreach
programs. With a goal of presenting the
arts to everyone, the Orchestra involves
itself in the community. Through 4ctivi-
ties ranging from mentorship of a high
school musicians, programs in senior
centers, youth concerts and free tickets
for those who can not afford to heir the
orchestra, the symphony tries to intro-
duce the symphony to the entire popula-
tion.
Conway in Borodin's "Prince Igor
Overture," Rachmaninoff's "A
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" and
Shastakovich's "Symphony Number
Five."
Along with the search for the new
director, the orchestra has planned many
other events for this year. The Ann
Arbor Symphony Orchestra has made a
conscience effort to work with the
I
Don't get
curried
.y of the show. Amy Gray,
enneman ("Your Friends and
her mother, played by Tyne
"), lead the cast of this new,
d from her husband of 10
ck at home in Hartford,
mother and her semi-unem-
Starting a new job as a
rying to manage her six year
t separation and change, this
n struggles to free herself
ring clutches.
egins with Vincent's discus-
an archetype, an everyman.
rocosm for the mother. She
aring woman whose pendu-
urturer to controlling harpy.
the mother who can't let her
Vincent, with a degree in
ho still lives at home and
lunt, powerful, and at times,
caustic, this mother bear will go to any length to make
sure her brood is safely doing her bidding.
Wisely, the writers are slow to reveal her Achilles
heal. "I'm quitting," she tells her daughter when Amy
finds her outside smoking during the last ten minutes of
the pilot. There is an inner weakness behind her titanic
facade of impenetrable strength. She is not a one-
dimensional woman, but a sympathetic being everyone
can relate to. She tells Amy, "Stop looking for answers,
formulas. There aren't any."
The show's action, periodically intercut with black
and white photos of Amy as a young girl, her expres-
sions mirroring her adult emotions, reminds the viewer
that inside everyone is young and vulnerable. No mat-
ter how mature people may appear, they have wounds,
experiences from childhood shaping who they area and
who they will become. This theme plays itself out not
only with Amy but with Vincent, her mother, and her
daughter as well. Amy must return to the vulnerability
of her youth, re-learn all that she knows from another
perspective, and audiences are privy to share this excit-
ing journey with her.
away
with
copying
costs.
r
Hill Auditorium Box Off
Saturday, September 25
ice
, 9 a.m.
rt
- 12 p.m.
$T
-PRICE
I iLRNL'
new
Laurie Anderson
Songs and Stories from Moby Dick
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Jarvi, conductor
UMS Choral Union
AmaliaHernandez'
Ballet Folklbrico de Mexico
Paco Pena and Inti-Illimani
Lyon Opera Ballet
Mats Ek's Carmen
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor
DaCamera of Houston: Moondrunk
The King's Singers and
Evelyn Gennie, percussion
Sankai Juku: Hiyomeki
Bill Frisell's New Quartet
Buena Vista Social Club with
Orquesta Ibrahim Ferrer
& Ruben Gonzalez y su Grupo
Emerson String Quartet
American String Quartet
Les Arts Florissants
Purcell's King Arthur
William Christie, conductor
Theatre of Voices
Paul Hillieredirector
Paco de Lucia and His Flamenco Septet
SALE
Meredith Monk: Magic Frequencies
Doudou N'Diaye Rose, master drummer
Drummers of West Africa
Martha Clarke: Vers ta flamme
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tonu Kaljuste,idirector
Murray Perahia, piano
New York City Opera National Company
Rossini's The Barber of Seville
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
The Chieftains
Ballet d'Afrique Noire
The Mandinka Epic
The English Concert
Trevor Pinnock, conductor
Ali Akbar Khan and Zakir Hussain
Oscar Peterson Quartet
Thomas Quasthoff, baritone
Chen Shi-Zheng: Forgiveness
Mammas: A Mediterranean Women's
Music Summit
Take 6 for $5!
Yo-Yo Mafor $10!
The Chieftains for $6!
Paco de Lucia for $10!
Berlin Philharmonic for $12.50!
Bebe Miller Dance Company for $11!
The King's Singers for $7!
Valid Student I.D. required.
Limit 2 tickets per event but choose
as many events as you wish.
Avoid Rush Ticket Sellouts.
Limited quantity available for each event.
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