Jesse Stone - Innocences perdues

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.

Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost has the former Paradise, Massachusetts police chief trying for a comeback and his small staff of Kathy Baker and Kohl Sudduth wishing he hadn't gone. But he riled up some members of the town council and one of them has put his nephew in as the new police chief. The rather arrogant and fatuous new chief is played by Jeff Geddis.

Tom Selleck as Stone has a perpetual savior who has come for his aid on a couple of occasions. Stephen McHattie who is head of the homicide division of the Massachusetts State Police has a case he's having second thoughts about, but the trial is going on. Selleck interviews the defendant who is on trial for murder and who won't provide an alibi as to his whereabouts at the time of the crime. Selleck also has instincts that prove correct.

At the same time Selleck is investigating this crime a young girl whom he had arrested while on the job has died of a drug overdose. That investigation is on the house and with his credentials supplied by McHattie, Selleck goes off on another investigation and in his usual style steps on toes. What are they going do, fire him?

The Jesse Stone movies are all good, some are better than others. But Tom Selleck has totally gotten away from Magnum, PI. This grim man with issues is so different from Thomas Magnum. Check Selleck out in all of them if you can.

The seventh film in the Jesse Stone series and not based on any book. Seems that's it, the adaptations are over. I thought it was a temporary diversion, but after the third straight film with no sign of going back, somewhat clear that it won't in the future as well. So only the characters from the book by Robert B. Parker was used to take the series forward with the original screenplays.

Jesse is preoccupied with new of him. He stopped talking to his ex- wife since the phone line he cut off. But it could be the reason a teen girl's death. I mean he's not responsible, but when she needed him the most he was unreachable. So he's kind of in guilt for her death and trying to find the real reason behind it. The police department closed the case with a simple statement, but Jesse knows there's something or someone to blame. Like usual, he goes after with the clues he got and also gets some help from his frenemy Mr Fish. Where it takes him and how he solves it comes in the last quarter.

In the opening credit, it was a different look, particularly the Jesse character was transformed into something new. When the rest of the film was in progress, there's nothing like that, just the old Jesse we all knew. He's trying to be close with Reggie, but it is not working. He's not in the force which is not looking good. Not just for him, but also for the film. Because he is a cop, a best one the paradise has ever seen, but his exit from the force was uninteresting the new development in the series. They are trying with the different things since it left the book, but not paying off with the success the series saw from the initial three films.

"What are you looking at?"

The director for this sequel has changed. This is the first time and I was not expecting that, because I thought that's the best thing about this series. I know the last couple of films were not up to the standards, but seems it's good that they wanted a fresh perspective, still, I don't think the new attempt worked out so well. I won't blame the director completely, first of all the story was pretty bad. This is surely the worst film in the series and it came in the time when the series needed a serious uplift. I don't know, from this position where it will head in the future.

It's not about the film is bad, but it does suit to be a part of the Jesse Stone franchise and that's the issue here. Because I felt it was out of the sync with the series. Those new characters, especially what they told us the dead girl Cindy was a close friend of Jesse is somewhat unacceptable. We have never seen her before and you can't just bring her in saying that's a very important person in Jesse's life. Because we know Jesse since he got to Paradise, so this girl is a mystery. Sorry, it did not work for me, maybe a prequel to that might do the fixing job all the damage done in this part. But I'm not confident about that would happen.

For the filmmakers, this installment is a bad dream. How could the writers did not think to include the flashbacks to cover up the flaws. I feel they should have sticked with the Robert B. Parker's book series. Other than the messed up story, as an individual film, it can be enjoyable. Many Jesse Stone fans upset with this one, though I hope the next one gets better. I'm saying that since last few films, but it is only going down and seems not recovering.

Like Selleck is the only reason this film still watchable. He was wonderful with a good supporting cast. So let's see what's going to happen to the film characters, looks some of the main ones useless here. With the wonderful characters, the makers are not developing the interesting story. I almost lost interest in this, but there are just a couple of films left, so I'm going to finish it off. I hope they can be what I'm expecting.

6/10

I missed the last Jesse Stone movie, but hope to see it when it is repeated. This may affect my knowledge of what is going on.

Jesse is no longer police chief of Paradise. He is now averaging two drinks a night, which seems fine to him. And while he had talked to ex-wife Jen every night since their divorce, he has not spoken to her in three weeks. This may be because he threw the phone and broke it, and he doesn't get cell phone reception where he lives. Also, he hasn't seen Dr. Dix in three weeks. But he gets a request to help the Massachusetts state homicide detectives once again. Soon after that, he is back in Dr. Dix's office trying to justify his continued drinking and deal with other problems.

The new chief is William Butler, who doesn't seem especially well-suited for this small town. He is nice enough as he takes over from acting chief Simpson (D'Angelo is gone), but he calls everyone "detective" even though Paradise is too small to have detectives. He makes Rose the dispatcher and has a conflict with Simpson over whether to give the town a positive image rather than telling the truth. And he certainly doesn't make a positive impression on Stone.

While driving to Stone's house, Rose finds Rutherford College student Cindy Van Aldan (Eileen Boylan) dead inside her car on the side of the road. Stone once arrested Cindy for drug use and made her spend the night in jail; we see their relationship through flashbacks. Officially, this appears to be a suicide, but Stone has doubts.

In Boston, Stone is asked to help with the case of Charles Morris, a black man who insists he is innocent of holding up a liquor store. Stone thinks Charles is the victim of racism. Stone, incidentally, has a light-skinned black girlfriend these days, Thelma, who is younger than some of his hats but has children in college.

Stone asks to be given a badge and official title by the state homicide department, but of course Stone is not known for following the rules. He uses his badge to look into Cindy's case. Cindy spent time at Tranquility, an expensive rehab facility which Sister Mary John says doesn't accomplish anything. Dr. Parkinson (Mark Blum), who just happens to live in Paradise and knows Stone is a potential patient, won't give out any more information than he has to.

Eventually, Stone manages to make progress on both his cases. But does he accomplish enough to get back on Paradise's police force and send William packing?

People who are new to Jesse Stone's character, and especially those who get bored easily, should probably skip the first few minutes. But the excitement level builds, at least for those interested in solving a mystery or two rather than gunfire and explosions. While there is some of that second type of excitement at the end, this movie is really for those who want to see Tom Selleck's talent playing a flawed but intelligent cop getting things done that others can't. These movies tend to spend more time looking closely at Stone's character than actually solving crimes. And that can be a good thing.

This movie lives up to the reputation the other Jesse Stone movies have established. It is not based on any of Robert Parker's books directly, but on the character. And there are plenty of other good performances.

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.