Jesse Stone - Innocences perdues

Fans of this serious deserve a medal for being the most patient fans on the planet. Most fans have had to resort to DVD supplements (or the Hallmark Channel) to even catch all the installments. Luckily places like Office Depot and big chain Grocery Stores carry most of the DVD's cheap. CBS hasn't been very helpful, the first two episodes were aired in reverse order and the latest two episodes (parts 6 and 7) put on a shelf for over a year while negotiating with Tom Selleck to do the TV series BLUE BLOODS. Part 6 ultimately aired with little fanfare in a terrible time slot and Part 7 finally found a decent home (and will be released on DVD August 2nd, probably). Even if you were able to catch all of them on TV the time period between films was pretty lengthy to remember some of the plot points in the continuing story line. The 6th film, SEA CHANGE, for example, the one that sat on the shelf and then given a bad time slot, brought back guest characters from all the previous episodes. Nifty idea if you watch all the DVD's in a month, but not spread out over 3 years. For the record in case you need to catch up, the story order of the DVD's (not the order they were aired or related to the book title order) are: 1. Night Passage 2. Stone Cold 3. Death in Paradise 4. Sea Change 5. Thin Ice 6. No Remorse 7. Innocents Lost. So are they worth it? Yes. They are character-driven moody dramas with just enough quirky moments to add some jokeless humor. Jesse Stone is a cop and a drunk who goes from being an LAPD robbery-homicide detective to police chief of a small town in Massachusetts. He solves all the cold cases (unsolved crimes), including the grisly ones that no one in town even knew existed, merely as a way to pass the boredom. This actually upsets the status quo of townsfolk that would rather leave their not-so-peaceful past buried. Story lines unexpectedly spill into sequel films making this a continuous story-line series.

IMDb reviewers enjoy a challenge almost as much as Parker's Jesse Stone character in this series.

For those recently arrived from another planet, this series is not exactly what it seems, to wit:

1. Selleck is in the "mature" stage of his career is here killing two birds with one (sorry for the pun) 'stone' -- the actor spends most of his time in Nova Scotia, loves it, and by producing/starring in this self-made series he gets to have his cake and eat it too

2. The negatives? Not many. You cannot even in this day and age do a Canadian film without casting at least one or two "Canadian extras" with their strange dialects and poorly-formed thespian skills. However the US contingent (Stone, Baker, deVane) are so goshdarned good, and the writing is so goshdarned sharp, and the scenery so goshdarned splendid, that these small moments of pain pass quickly.

3. Slow moving to some, but what you do have on screen is what the late Spencer Tracey would have referred to as "choice"

Although the Jesse Stone character was created by Robert B. Parker, and he wrote an entire series of books based on him, this particular story was penned by the star, Tom Selleck, along with Michael Brandon (one of the executive producers). As such, their collaboration has resulted in a most-excellent continuation of the Stone series. But Jesse is not reinstated as Chief of the town of Paradise as is stated in the IMDb movie description. Instead, he works solely on his own this time as he strives to solve two unassociated crimes, one which involves the death of a young friend of his. Unfortunately, Jesse is still struggling with personal issues including his interest in hard liquor. Although there may be several times during progression of the story that viewers may feel frustration over how things are going, everyone will come away from the film with an undeniable sense of satisfaction, and the ending, as always, will leave you yearning for additional future stories. Tom Selleck is an impressive, professional actor, and his exquisite portrayal of this role is part of what keeps people coming back for more.

It's hard to do justice to Jesse Stone watching it on commercial TV: so far I have held out for the DVDs but the ending of the excellent last episode was so suspenseful, I couldn't wait. The greatest strength of this series has always been the subtle characterizations - of course Jesse himself, but also Suitcase, Rose, Dix, Healy, Hasty, Hanson, D'Angelo and Doc Perkins - all brilliantly drawn and acted, without any need to go overboard. Yet, this time, I felt there was a bit too much dependence on past character development and a rehashing of a lot of their old lines (Hasty, for example, must always say "I'm very fond of you, Jesse"): I didn't find any of the new appearances were particularly engaging; with the possible exception of the wonderfully odious new Chief (sorry I didn't get his name), they seemed rather a grey lot - and the issue here is direction and screenplay, not acting.

The end was a bit too sudden for me and, yet again, we must wait for the next episode before a number of loose ends get resolved (including the main plot-line). Actually, my channel concluded so abruptly that there were no end credits and I didn't realize it was over. Robert Harmon builds atmosphere brilliantly, the screenplay is witty and taut (but rather less so this time) and some clever in-jokes with Jesse using Dr. Dix's "what do you think of that?" At times it teeters on the edge of sentimentality with Jesse almost weeping and Gino Fish becoming almost affectionate – on the edge, I say, but certainly not over it.

It's not the best episode but I hugely look forward to seeing it on DVD and may then be obliged to revise some of my first impressions.

The synopsis here is incorrect, by the way, when is says that Jesse is reinstated.

I love the Jesse Stone series but I have to say this is the worst one of the bunch. The storyline and plot are pretty bland and a lot of the same dialogue from the other films. The way the actors talked did not seem real as they were spouting off fast dialogue and weren't talking in a tone or pace that most people do(hard to explain if you haven't seen it) Hopefully the next movie will learn from this one's mistakes. Jesse is still seen moping around and doesn't go anywhere with his exwife. Nothing really changed from the other ones. While this was not as in depth or just not as interesting as the previous 6, which I really enjoyed.

Weakest of the series. Should be subtitled: A brooding Jesse stares at his dog. Abrupt transitions and ending. Issues left resolved. Feels incomplete.