Jesse Stone: L'empreinte du passé

The Jesse Stone movies are definitely among the best of made-for-television movies out there. "Night Passage" and "Death in Paradise" were both wonderful mystery movies and "Sea Change" is right up there on top with them. Here, Police Chief Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) is trying to solve two cases at once. Both of which are not connected to one another. The town councilmen say he should try to solve a rape case, his mind tells him he should try to solve a murder case that occurred in Paradise fifteen years ago.

Tom Selleck was born to play Jesse Stone. He has the overall weathered-down appearance for a cop who has gone through a lot of miseries and personal problems with life and continues to go through them. His voice and mannerism also has the laconic tone suitable for Jesse Stone that enhances the believability of his performance. Performances by the rest of the cast was very good and the show went to reintroduce some characters that had not been seen since the second movie "Night Passage".

Like the others before it, "Sea Change" is a powerful mystery-drama. It appropriately keeps us guessing along with Stone until the end and just as I wanted to happen, something occurred in the movie that was both expected and unexpected at the same time. I will not give any hints as to what does happen or when it happens, for I don't want to ruin the surprise for anybody who hasn't seen this amazing television movie.

The other review "Being a longtime mystery lover, but never having read Robert B. Parker or seen a Jesse Stone movie, I really looked forward to watching Sea Change. But it was almost a complete disappointment. First, the principal characters have been given colorful histories or eccentricities seemingly only to keep them from being completely uninteresting otherwise or to fill time (for example, Luthor's post-coma extrasensory power). Why does anyone have his or her peculiarities? Dude please you have never read Robert B Parker and you a mystery lover. Get off with more jokes. To claim and be a mystery lover and not have read Robert Parker is like being a Christian and not reading the Bible. You comments. The beauty of parker is the eccentricities of the characters.

This is a great movie listen to someone who really reads and loves mystery books not this guy. Watch this movie and watch the entire series they are excellent but for the intelligent viewer only. Much goes on so unlike action movies to really enjoy you must watch the movie. Not boring ,,, just the opposite excellent. jp

While some may find the pace plodding and grow impatient, real enjoyment follows for those who focus on the subtleties of character development through facial gestures, incremental relationship growth between characters, and the economical dialogue. All the Jesse Stone movies provide refreshing change from movies relying excessively on frenetic car chases, lengthy foot pursuits, protracted shoot-outs, high body counts, sixteen camera views of the same explosion, badly contrived conflict between partners, and tiring vocabulary abuse (profanity). Watch these in order because there are larger story threads that connect from movie to movie especially concerning the central characters. When you find yourself able to relax and have a story with depth gradually and carefully laid out before you, you'll be in the right frame of mind to enjoy this. As a peripheral character in Sea Change tells Jesse, "listen to Brahms."

Robert Parker, like novelist Georges Simenon, was a master of his craft. Both men knew how to say just enough, and no more, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks. Parker's books are really acts of collaboration between writer and reader. It is rare for a film to capture the spirit of the book it sprang from, and rarer still for the film to be faithful to the writer's method. The Jesse Stone films are the wonderful exception. They are true to the books, and faithful to Parker's lean, spare style. Less is always more, like a Japanese line drawing. These films are beautifully crafted little gems. High marks to all who had a hand in their production.

Selleck does not get enough credit for this series.

On the one hand this whole series can be dismissed as the efforts of yet one more "older" actor to keep stirring the pot, to stay in the game, and at the same time get to play in his favorite sandbox on the planet (Nova Scotia, standing in for Maine).

But if you dig deeper and consider the series as a whole what you find is remarkable control, and craftsmanship.

The same people appear in every movie, both in front of and behind the camera. Ignoring the regional Canadian accents, they are not bad.

Selleck is brilliant. Stone could be the best work of his career. He has trumped Clint Eastwood in his mastery of the two-word piece of dialog. He stands a fragile but unwavering force for law enforcement. There is minimal violence or action in these entries but they hold interest nonetheless.

And that damn dog with the stoic face steals every scene he is in.