Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt

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.

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.

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.

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.