Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost

I enjoy all of the Jesse Stone mini series. To bad they were not filmed in the New England area and Boston. I'm sure the costs would have been substantially higher

If you like police dramas you should like this one. Jesse Stone has been forced to retire early because the town council didn't like his policies concerning enforcement. In this film Jesse is out to find why a young friend of his (a girl named Cindy) has been found dead about a mile from his place. Supposedly she died from a drug over dose. His investigation leads him to several interesting finds. Turns out the rehab place she went to was just a semi sham. They let their patients go with drug prescriptions to replace (?) the addictions. One of the ex aides at the place used it to recruit drug addled girls as hookers. Cindy was one of them. Stone gets the scum bag in a hotel room stripped to his boxers. He is told to quit or die. Stone kills him when he breaks into Jesse's house armed to the teeth, I guess for revenge. This movie is also where Jesse's police chief replacement shows up. He is a real political tool, hired because of his relationship as the son in law of the head council member. Stone is again hired by the state to look into a murder case. Jesse investigates and finds out the guy is innocent of the murder charge but is guilty of a rape just a few minutes before the robbery/murder.

Apparently I didn't watch the same movie as the other reviewers on here. I never heard of Jesse Stone before. Didn't know it was a character with several movies. This was the first one I saw and I can already tell you for sure that it was also the last one. I also didn't know it was going to be a television movie. Nothing wrong with that if it's a good one. But the problem is that it's just not a good one. Jesse Stone played by Tom Selleck is an annoying slow character, not pleasant to watch. The story is also very boring. They sometimes make references to stories from other movies in that series so if you didn't watch any other ones than it's even more boring. The glory days from Tom Selleck in Magnum are clearly over. Lousy television movies like this one are just right for him. But not for me to watch.

The seventh and hopefully not the last episode aired just this past Sunday, but that prospect looms ominously in my opinion. The seventh instalment of the Jesse Stone character on film delivers the usual mystery death(s) we know Jesse will likely solve, but the faith of the bad guys is most often the biggest surprise of the Jesse Stone stories. Again, to my personal delight, the bad guy dies at the hand of former Sheriff Stone, in a perfect trap we can only somewhat presume was Jesse's checkmate move; as usual we were not privy to the plan until it unfolded. Jesse struggles with his usual demons, the liquor and his divorce. A new love interest in Gloria Reuben is introduced, well maybe just a friend with lovely benefits; and this is one that makes it alive by the end of the movie. Occasionally they die. His friends Luther, Rose, Saul, Commander Healy and Dr. Dix, even quasi-friend Gino, as well as a renewed appearance by Sister Mary John are familiar faces doing their usual thing. About Sister Mary John, we were fooled in believing for a fleeting moment, thanks to very good editing, that she and Jesse have an affair. Well it's the second episode he's blunt about his intention in that respect, so we can hope. All and all, this episode delivered our annual dose of characters we like and a story we can claim is a good mystery. The pace and the mood always the same slow and thoughtful process; I often remark in many other of my reviews that this or that movie leaves me with a grin, a smile or excited still, etc., but a Jesse Stone movie is one that makes me sigh at the end. It's not a sigh of disappointment, absolutely not; but I have a hard time finding the right words. I can describe how I feel; glad most of the key characters are alive and hopeful that Jesse will maybe find something close to happiness at least before the end of that series. We could say there's a Jesse Stone movie cult, if others feel the same way I described.

The Stone movies were very good when based on a Parker novel. Since Selleck has begun basing the movies on non-Parker stories, the movies have dropped in quality with each movie. "Innocent Lost" is the worst to date. Selleck needs to go back to the Parker novels for the screenplay and the Stone series will not be dis-continued. If this current trend of non-based Parker screenplays continues, Jesse Stone will become part of the past. My wife is a big Selleck fan and hated this movie. That is a telling factor.

This is my first Jesse Stone and it may be my last. In Innocents Lost, Jesse tries to find out what happened to a young woman he once arrested with whom he lost touch. She went into a rehab facility, was released on antidepressants, and died of a heroin overdose. Part of my problem is not knowing all the characters who surround Jesse, and it is certainly an excellent cast: Kathy Baker, William Devane, Stephen McHattie, et al., and I suppose that would help subsequent viewing. To me this seemed slow-moving and I found Selleck as dull as dishwater. He shot to fame thanks to his wonderful looks, a relaxed charm, an ability to play humor, and warmth. I guess it all left on the last train. This character does not draw on any of his best assets. I just don't find him enough of an actor to give us a multilayered, depressed character. Instead, he comes off as grim and boring. I once read that a self-help guru did a workshop for actors. One of them was always one of the last two in an audition but lost the part. The teacher investigated and told him the reason was he had no talent. She explained it was a good thing because he didn't have to worry about "acting" any longer. He could use his charm, his presence, his looks, his demeanor, and his personality instead. She went on to write that he became a household name in the '80s. I'm convinced it was Selleck. I'm sure no one else will agree with me, and I may feel differently if I view more of these. But it was slow going watching one of the bright lights of '80s television meandering through this. One smile would have been welcome.