User reviews

Imagine that you and I could live our lives over again - or even a portion of them - and use the life lessons we have garnered, the hard way, to help ourselves and others. Police Chief Jesse Stone, portrayed by Tom Selleck, in the small Massachusetts town of Paradise, seizes such an opportunity. Divorce, alcoholism, murder, loyalty and betrayal, stupidity, false trust and false pride, dist integrating integrity, Stone has deposited lessons in some bank inside himself; and in these made-for-television modern morality plays, ironically, he is the right man in just the right place to help both himself and the small town.

Stone is no Ebenezer Scrooge. The ghosts that terrified him back in Los Angeles where he took to binge drinking and lost a high profile law enforcement job, are within his soul still, permanently goading and guiding him.

From 2005 through 2012, I watched, with increasing curiosity, involvement, and enthusiasm, as Tom Selleck and his cast maneuvered through five movies about Jesse Stone. Now, I have the distinct feeling that Selleck has assembled his favorite fellow actors to join in producing art and serious fun.

Thirty years ago, after "Magnum P.I.," Selleck is still refining and perfecting his acting skills. The actor who lost the Indiana Jones franchise to Harrison Ford, is selecting his vehicles carefully, systematically.

The dialog in the Stone movies is unusual, like the repartee one might overhear, by accident, between aged, battle-scarred warriors, or experienced EMT workers, in private, or out of ear shot, making ironic comments about life and love, death and destruction treating very serious subjects in a manner that sounds like light banter.

The Jesse Stone movies will not be for everyone's tastes. Its humor evolves out of people continually reminding themselves of how easily they could become corrupted or dead, the kind of humor that keeps characters and audiences on edge. Serious drama tipped just enough on edge to allow the audience to glimpse just a bit of Abbott and Costello or "Waiting for Gogot," reflecting on what well-intentioned but often self-deceiving creatures we human beings are.

Stone's drinking and womanizing somehow make him a sympathetic character where another actor might come across as a cad or pervert, a creep or monster. That is acting skill. This is Horation satire. It mocks and ridicules wrongs and weaknesses, but it is forgiving, unlike Juvenalian satire which is serious, grim, caustic and unforgiving, going straight for the jugular.

Selleck and cast treat even gruesome death with the dark humor MASH surgeons use to keep their sanity as they continually patch up wounded soldiers sending them back again and again to try to kill other human beings.

Some of the wittiest repartee since the 1980's "Equalizer" starred Edward Woodward and Robert Lansing, shows the verbal counter punching skills of Selleck and McHattie.

This movie may appeal to students of successful failures. It may even appeal to people who believe in atonement and forgiveness, reformation and redemption.

The movie manages to evoke an almost Vaudevillian humor out of events which in reality might feel like distilled sorrow or overwhelming grief.

Devane, shrink, ex-cop and almost ex-drinker, is a reflector for Stone's struggles and misadventures with both women and the bottle, and their interludes are played both for serious intent and droll comedy, as men, as lovers, as drinkers, and as human beings struggling to help themselves and others.

Aristotle said that a memorable character is (a) true to life (b) true to type and (c) true to self. The Stone movies turn the first two definitions on their heads a bit, but we know that it takes all kinds to make a world. Being true to oneself entails continual contemplation and application of the Serenity Prayer.

I like the pace of Jesse Stone TV movies. They are too slow for some folks, but the pauses give the discriminating viewer time to guess at what Jesse is turning over in his head. I thoroughly enjoy the banter between him and his psychologist friend and Capt Healey. As a man who survived all the banter that accompanies time in the military, I actually get a kick out of hearing the dialogue.

Jesse is rehired as chief after some police are killed in a car bomb. He is caught between not liking one of the dead and wanting justice even if it proves the dead cop was innocent of a crime.

There is some touching of old friendships and a few surprises. We get a small hint of something to come but it is hard to actually piece all of what we see together and know how it will play out.

I enjoyed it very much, hope you will too.

When two police officers are blown up in a police car while investigating a fire, Jesse Stone is brought back as the Chief of Police. The town council fired him; they now re-hire him, as one of the men on the council's son-in-law was one of the cops.

Jesse breaks into his old office, where there is no staff and no action. He calls Rose (Kathy Baker) who is staying with her mother; she says she'll think about it. Suitcase decides to stay away as well.

Jesse works to sort through what little he has: money in the trunk of the police car is but one. He speaks with his various sources: his analyst (William Devane), a Massachusetts State Patrol Captain (Stephen McHattie) a Mob kingpin (William Sandler), and the felonious Hasty (Saul Rubinek), now out of prison.

Were the cops dirty? Who made the call to bring them to the site? Can Jesse keep from drinking his way through the case? Will Rose and Suitcase ever return?

Somehow these characters grow on one. I still think Selleck is too one-note and depressed, though this script had a little humor in it. Still, people enjoy the show, and that's what counts.

Paradise Police Chief "Skipper" Butler and Officer D'Angelo are investigating a fire at "The Point". But when they get there, it appears to be a false alarm.

Or is it?

Two people are dead, and be warned--their bodies look like something out of a horror movie.

The state arson investigators won't tell the town council anything. Town council members Hanson and Hasty show up at Stone's remote house--his phone is disconnected--to offer him his job back. Stone and the state investigator Healy are friends, so maybe he will have better luck.

Healy tells Stone what he needs to know and advises him to leave the investigating to the state cops. Since when has that ever stopped Stone? His next two actions are illegal and provide two of the film's best comic moments, the other being Hasty's bow-tie.

Stone suspects the murders were the result of Butler being corrupt (Wait: why will Butler let Stone take over his job, much less get away with investigating him? There's a very good reason). But he faces a number of obstacles. Molly quit. Rose quit and took her kids to her mother's in Toledo. Suitcase is working on his father's boat where he claims to be happy, but he's not convincing. Stone has no cell reception at his house. How will this man get anything done? Believe me, he will.

Stone hasn't talked to his ex-wife Jen since he lost his job, and he's drinking again; his dog seems to disapprove. He continues to visit Dr. Dix, and he is dating Thelma, who works at Hasty's car dealership and sings standards in a club. Stone also goes out with the pretty but tough Amanda, Gino Fish's secretary, but just for information.

A third person dies, and while it looks like suicide, Stone doesn't believe it.

The mystery has just enough twists, and the conclusion is exciting.

This is a movie that can be watched by those new to Jesse Stone. Unlike some of the others, this is a straight mystery which doesn't deviate into long philosophical scenes that some might find boring. And Stone's character history is explained for those who might not know it, but this is not really necessary for a newcomer to the series.

Tom Selleck does his usual good job--just remember, this is NOT "Blue Bloods" (which I've never seen, but commercials tell me enough). Stone is flawed in many ways but basically decent.

The other leading actors also do a good job. I wish Kathy Baker had had a bigger role, but for whatever reason she didn't have a lot of lines. Suitcase was also missed.

It's worth seeing, even more so than some of the recent entries in the series.

This latest in the Jesse Stone series contains little suspense as the only new character introduced in the anthology turns out to be the perpetrator or at least one of them. Part of the problem is that you really would have to see the previous film to get into what is going on here.

In that previous film Tom Selleck who steps on a lot of toes in the small ocean town of Paradise, Massachusetts got fired as police chief and the snot nose son-in-law of one of the town councilmembers took his job. Well in this episode the new chief and another officer are killed in a most grisly fashion, a bomb thrown under their police car blows them up. You'd think it was Afghanistan.

In fact Selleck who is brought back as chief thinks it's not terrorism and so does Stephen McHattie from the Massachusetts State Police homicide squad. They think it's local and personal and it turns out it is.

One problem Selleck does have is that he IS the Paradise police because the others quit when he left and the two deceased were the previous force. He could have used a little help, but Kathy Baker and Kohl Sudduth just aren't ready to return.

These two hour Jesse Stone movies give Tom Selleck a chance to get into his deeply flawed alcoholic character. The enforced idleness in his absence as chief have put a lot of temptation to return to his drinking ways.

Fans of the series and of Selleck should like this film.

The latest Jesse Stone installment, Benefit of the Doubt, is yet another reminder that Jesse is a flawed character. Tom Selleck does such a great job with this character you find yourself justifying these flaws and rooting for him to overcome and serve justice at the same time. Robert B. Parker's vision for Jesse to continue to be flawed has remained intact even after the scripts wandered away from Parker's story line. The supporting cast, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth, Stephen McHattie, William Sadler, Saul Rubinek, and William Devane all return to Paradise to as well. Great acting by Selleck, good writing, and the talented supporting cast preserve Parker's vision for Jesse Stone and hopefully give it life for yet another CBS movie.

The eighth film in the Jesse Stone series based upon the characters created by Robert B. Parker. If you had read all my previous reviews of this series, you would know how much I'm looking forward for this. Not like I'm happy with the series to continue, but the last couple of films were below par than usual Jesse films. Like always, I went for it expecting the series could get better, and does it fulfill my desire? I won't say it did, but surely a decent one. It had the opportunity to become much better than that, but it was the story, like they wanted to start off again from the scratch. So it was kind of a refresher in the series, there's big changes you would find from the very first scene itself.

Jesse received his PPD cap, that mean he's back, but he's the only one left in the force. This time he brought in to investigate the death of his rival in the department. He also has a strong back from the town council, as well as from his Boston boss. So this is an important case for everyone, particularly for Jesse to get back like he always say this is his last stop. This is not a detached story, I mean not some new characters comes in, commits crime and got punished. This is really well improvised story within the available characters. So the viewers can be optimistic about guessing the events including the finale.

Kind of depressing to see one man doing all the job. I mean it was always been like that in the series, but this time feels it was a slow presentation. Jesse is no Rambo, yet feel he's isolated. I liked how the film developed with the existing characters. That means there's a serious change in characters, like many are from the previous films went missing and some of those who appeared in this were involved in termination. So the next film will be very interesting, whether there will be a bunch of new ones or the old ones return.

"Cop deserves the benefit of the doubt."

Regarding the case he's on, he deals it on his usual way. But nothing seems a masterful, the twist and turns are ordinary. So don't anticipate any masterstrokes. Jesse was just roaming around seeking information and then suddenly he gets a clue he was looking for. With that he uses a bait to catch the bad guys and they fall for it. But while dealing it, the event takes an unexpected turn, leaves the story might continue in the following sequel as well. That's the confusing, because the film ran for nearly 90 minutes and did nothing to end on high as it does always. So with this kind of drag, I don't know where the series is heading.

Like I always say, Tom Selleck is the reason I'm still hooked to this series. In this installment, it is all about him, because like I mentioned earlier, the next to his roles like Rose and Luther are off the hook. That means the Jesse's therapist like the third string characters automatically taken the leap forward, but nothing much expectable from them. Particularly Thelma, the Hasty's assistant seems interested in Jesse, but it does not tell us how serious it is. Because fighting crime takes over the this romance, or maybe we can call a flirtation like Jesse does to gain information. I think, again the follow-up is to answer that question.

After getting into the rock bottom with the last film, this one looked much better, but still not the best I was looking for. It's just trying to be a normal film, like a television film from the old days and it succeeded somehow. So definitely it is a decent comeback and there's only one film to go for me to end the Jesse Stone series. Oh, I almost forgot that the original director returned for this, that's really amazing news for the series fans. Like the old team coming together, somewhat the series back on the track. The next film that released in the 2015 was received well, that's what I've heard, so can't wait to watch it. The final review on its way, meet me there.

7/10

Not having been a Magnum PI fan, I've not watched many Tom Selleck movies other than his westerns. But one night after watching "Quigley Down Under" for the sixth or seventh time, I decided to watch one of the Jesse Stone series on Net Flix. This series is very engaging and once I started watching them I had to see them all and I even bought the DVDs. This most recent "Without a Doubt" is not one of the better ones. All of the flaws have been pointed out: believability -- where is the rest of the police force; incongruity of the plot; and his love life has definitely taken a dive. At least he has finally gotten rid of the ex-wife thing which made him seem pretty pathetic after the first 3 or 4 movies. Jesse is the classic brooding bad boy and Tom Selleck plays the role really well. His womanizing and his drinking are part of his charm, after all he is up front with all of the women he makes love to. Tom does need to lighten up on the hair color (better than in Bluebloods where he looks like he's been made up by a mortician). He is one of those men that has gotten more masculine and attractive as he has matured. I think the movie dialog is very similar to that in the books, but Jesse at times is too brooding and intense. Anyone who has his success with women should have a smile on his face once in a while. As a female fan, I'd wouldn't mind seeing how Jesse looks without his shirt on. This is a good series and I hope we have many more Jesse Stone movies to come.

This show starts out with a bang, literally. In a small, coastal town, two policemen die in a car bombing while out on a routine call. That certainly got my attention. Retired L.A. detective Jesse Stone is appointed to investigate. After that, the story wanders. We get to meet the various locals who live in the gloomy community with its rocky coast and gray weather, a place which has clearly seen better days. It's filled with cynical people one comes to expect in a movie like this. As expected, Stone (played well enough by Tom Sellink) asks questions of people, trying to find clues. As far as I could tell, but only finds little hints. In fact, the investigation doesn't go anywhere until the last half hour and the ending was very rushed. It also seems as if a sequel is being set up at the end.

This excellent movie showcases a masterclass in acting by Tom Selleck. One of a series of movies based on the characters in Robert B. Parker's novels, this story develops the characters and portrays the complexities of human relationships and motivations. Mr Selleck's acting is excellent, blending fluently the subtle nuances of the character. In his blog, Robert B. Parker's said that "Tom nails the character". The main cast are all excellent, with the performances of Saul Rubinek and Stephen McHattie being particularly fine. The atmosphere, pace, humour and style of dialogue of this and the other movies in the series make them compulsive viewing. Perhaps this parallels the themes of addiction which often feature. The story is well written and the subject matter, as in the other movies, does not flinch in dealing with the dark realities of human nature, whilst also integrating ways to navigate such aspects guided by morality. All in all, movie making at its best.

The auto inspection stickers were on the driver side of the windshield of the police cars, which is wrong. In MA they are on the passenger side. This also appeared in previous episodes. I expect that all MA residents would have noted this.

Next, there was no sound of ejected brass clinking around when Jesse was involved in the gun fight aboard the boat. This is a major error which any gun owner would have noted at once.

Hopefully the crew will do a better job in the future on these technical issues.

Over all, I did like this episode as I was unable to get ahead of the story line. The several scenes where Jesse sits and thinks would be evident of a great mind culling all evidence and known facts in order to place them in relation to each other. Ultimately, bringing Jesse to the conclusion that I, personally, missed.

Again, Joe the Dog deserves an award as Best Actor for his portrayal of Reggie (the dog) and Jesse's anchor. He provided a very believable companion who reacted very well to Jesse's moods.

Am looking forward to the next episode.

In my opinion, the story was underwritten, because considerable time was given over to the main character doing very routine things (presumably just to kill the film's allotted time). Context was a problem too. Unless people had watched every previous episode of the Jesse Stone collection, he or she would have a difficult time sorting out some of the characters and their motivations. The acting performances were pretty routine, with very occasional exceptions. The car dealer on the town council was more of a caricature that a character, in my opinion. A number of the conversations that occurred in the film were pretty much pointless, as they contributed nearly nothing to the story's development. I had the feeling that this movie was made solely to fill a TV time slot and that cinematic excellence wasn't even a consideration.

This was just shown today on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. I am glad, since I rarely watch network TV and would never have seen it otherwise. It was somewhat of a teaser having such an unimportant person as Hasty even showing up in multiple episodes. I was wondering what the reason for this was. Since it was completely ridiculous for him to actually be the boss and to have gone to prison for money laundering, I was actually surprised. I was equally disappointed. They could have almost picked anyone to be Gino Fish's boss. That is, if there was even a reason for him to need a boss. Nowhere in real life could the series of events that led to Hasty's arrest actually happened. If he was the boss, he never would've allowed Steven Baldwin to bully him and gotten himself arrested. He is the boss. He would have just had him whacked. There was no real reason to have Lou (Lew) killed. If there had to be a boss. The state police detective would've been the perfect one. Then at the end maybe Suit could've turned into a crooked cop. Anyway, Hasty just didn't work. This is the real world. He was in prison, getting no visitors but we are supposed to believe he is running a criminal organization. Remember, money laundering isn't the crime. He was just convicted of that. There were several murders that Baldwin had been accused of, too.It is just one of the problems you have to deal with in being in the underworld.

Where is Viola Davis name listed on the cast?Please, fix it.

I could watch Tom Selleck sit and think for hours -- and that's pretty much what I did in this latest Jesse Stone episode. It was slow, but that's Robert B. Parker for you, and yet I return to the Jesse Stone novels just as I will for the Tom Selleck portrayal of our flawed hero. Two small things that bothered me: One, Rose is portrayed by 61 year old Kathy Baker; did I understand that she had a baby 3 years ago? Maybe I misunderstood that. Two, Jesse wakes up in the morning and is freshly shaved. With a beard like his, I don't think so. Oh, a third problem: Jesse never did talk to the dead Chief's wife and we never saw any closure for her dad. Did I mention I could watch Tom Selleck for hours, even if he's sleep-walking through a murder mystery?

Why do I always end up feeling conned & duped after watching a Jesse Stone episode? I go in full of high expectations, like going into a first rate restaurant: terrific menu, great atmosphere, beautiful surroundings. And then...little bitty tastes & teasers.

I've always been a fan of Tom Selleck. He's a great-looking guy with a wry sense of humor & he's aged well (although I would gently suggest he have his hairdresser lighten up on the dense blacks - looks too phony). But he spends most of his time in this episode (& the last one as I recall) standing around doing a lot of thinking & brooding & posing.

Selleck wears clothes better than any actor since Gary Cooper & he has some pretty snazzy outdoorsy threads in this one. But I wound up feeling like I was watching an elaborate Eddie Bauer commercial.

As for the plot...what plot? Pieces of plots. Pieces of characterizations. Snatches of dialog. In the end there were so many plot pieces left hanging & unexplained it I thought this episode might be half of a 2-parter. But as far as I can tell from IMDb this is a one-shot.

So what's going on? A new mystery genre? You give viewers a few pieces of the puzzle & let them fill in the blanks?

Come on, Tom, your fans & followers deserve a whole lot better. We know you can do it, that's why we keep coming back.

Maybe my expectations were too high? I've enjoyed previous "episodes" in this series of TV movies. There is always great scenery in which these stories take place.

In this particular movie, the viewer gets shot out of their chair by a very unexpected jolt. It's all down hill from there. I was able to zip past all of the boring commercials, but most of the core of this movie was filled with scenes where the audience member is left wondering, "why?" I got a bit tired of watching Jesse and his dog "think." I would have turned this off and read a book had my wife not been there.

It finally ended with some sort of sudden "baiting" by our drinking and mentally disturbed hero. I was glad it was over. There was a lot of potential, but action was not the focus of this movie.

Watch at your own risk.