Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise

I have watched all 9 of the Jesse Stone movies and, for me, this one is the best. Tom Selleck brings this flawed whiskey and coffee loving police chief to life in a way that I don't think anyone else could. An alcoholic with a broken marriage behind him somehow comes across as a very decent human being with real compassion for those that he tries to help. Taking time to help a young girl with an alcoholic mother was a nice touch. I loved his interactions with his new dog as he tries to find out what he likes to eat. Jesse is a man that many men can identify with. There is a pace and realism in this series that was lacking in many police dramas. I am really looking forward to Jesse Stone's next adventure.

Selleck & co have boiled the books down to a bland repetitive format which dulls the senses. Drink, dog, simply wise but tortured lines from the main character, worthy side story, main story about murderer who got away with it initially, drink, unrequited love interest, Quips about phone & car, sex with very younger more sophisticated powerful woman, drink, show no affection to dog, meet gang boss for information, resolve local social aware case, set trap for killer, drink, kill perb' with one shot, drink, fading sunset scene with dog, repeat again and again. YAWN.

"Lost" is simply as Jesse Stone has nothing to keep himself occupied. He still drinks, he still cant find anything to arrest Gino Fish for and pays large sums of money to talk to a "shrink". leading to him being given a pile of police files to look into for the Boston team. 4 murders of prostitutes, 1 only was a white woman. This leads to several conversations with the criminal-the one charged with all four but claims he only did 3. The answer to the 4th is really obvious and equally saddening given who it is and the reason behind it. This isn't exciting viewing but it is watchable. If he does another one - I hope they come up with something that we might describe as "exciting viewing" this isn't such a film

I have always enjoyed watching the Jesse Stone movies, I had not seen the last one till today. I had the first 7 on DVD and watched on TV as they came out., Seen #8 Benefit Of the Doubt on TV back in 2012. When #9 Lost in Paradise came out on DVD a few months ago I got it as well as Benefit of the Doubt on DVD. Over the weekend and today Monday I watched all nine. Must start with Night Passage for new viewers, Watch Stone Cold second. Its a better way of watching. This with out a Doubt was the BEST OF THE BEST of all nine. Okay Spoiler so stop reading now if you have not seen it yet. At the beginning of #9 I was sad to see no Joe / Reggie the dog. I had to stop viewing and I looked up and seen where Reggie died in June 11th 2013...I was glad they wrote a way for Jesse to get a new dog STEVE... The story line Jenny O'Neill Mackenzie Foy was very touching. Gloria Reuben looked amazing. I only hope they will continue to make more on this series..

It's a good show with complex characters that are easy to read. Their reasons aren't clear, their progress lacking, the emotions constrained and retarded. People move on from divorce, death, loss of children, and bad things that happen to them. We want them to. We need them to. If they don't they just become boring and tiresome. Jesse needs to move on from his wife, get over himself, find a love interest that inspires him and allow him to stop feeling so sorry for himself all the time. He needs a good laugh, a smile, something that makes you want to share his life with him instead of yell at the screen, "get over it and move on!" The production value is great. Too much emphasis on dogs. Too many lines repeated over and over. It's a 165 page script with 135 pages of dialog without the repetition. If he focused on Jesse Stone he could easily do two of these a year and have all the life he wanted instead of commuting to NY from LA. In fact, he could shoot them in British Columbia instead of Nova Scotia. I enjoy a good mystery, and at least these hold suspense throughout and don't give away who the bad guy is until the last 10 minutes. All in all, this series needs focus and directed attention and it could be one of the better, if not the best show on TV.

I like the Jesse Stone movies probably because I was a fan of the novels: heavy on dialogue, sparse on description. Selleck as writer/collaborator maintained that balance. I don't like the dropping of characters from film to film but that may be because the films are so sporadic and actors need to eat. This entry is slow moving and focuses on Jesse being dissatisfied with the way the "last" victim of a serial killer was put to rest. Jesse battles his usual demons—drink, loneliness, emptiness—and doggedly pursues leads with the aid of a certain disreputable boxing promoter. There are a few toss away scenes with Luke Perry, William Devane, and Kohl Sudduth but that's about it. There is a minor subplot featuring Mackenzie Foy as a troubled teen. But the heart of the story is that the last victim, Mavis, was butchered while she was still alive and Jesse knows even though the serial killings have stopped, Luke Perry wasn't the murderer. In the end you won't be surprised to find out who the guilty party is, just follow the "scrubbed" file to the obvious end. Not the most satisfying film of the series. I did like Steve the dog.

The Jesse Stone movies are character studies and explore the relationships between the participants. If you're looking for Magnum type glamor and action, forget Jesse Stone. Selleck is like a fine wine that has improved with age. Lost in Paradise is a quality made for TV movie with adept acting, writing and direction. Jesse Stone is back on a case involving the death of an escort. Along the way he befriends new people and re-engages with old ones like Gino Fish. We are introduced to people that we come to care about and who are three dimensional. It may seem slow to some, who want an action film that is faster than a speeding bullet, but for those of us who savor fine acting and characters with depth Lost in Paradise, like the other Jesse Stone films, will fill the bill.

I truly missed Jesse Stone and was sad, when the rumors were up for no other movies. But now he is back and he is back in all the wonderful, slow, atmospheric glory I could have hoped for. I loved everything about Lost In Paradise, first of all Tom Selleck's wonderful acting,the great cinematography, the superb score, the well known and always great cast and of course Steve. The case after 2 years of "fighting crime" was an interesting one and interesting enough for Jesse to fight his loneliness and his search for meaning. If you haven't watched any Jesse Stone movies, give them chance, start at the beginning and enjoy all the way through. This is emotional crime drama at its best.

I wasn't sure Hallmark could pull off a non-censored Jesse Stone (the ones repeated from CBS had the occasional editing), but they did. The story was unhurried, but that is to be expected of all the Jesse Stone tales. Tom Selleck and the Brandmans have continued the themes started years ago by Robert Parker. Tom Selleck is still at his best, and the supporting characters are great. And Steve (Ned the Dog) was wonderful. I'm really glad to have Jesse Stone back. We folks who don't fit the commercial demographic (we're the ones that like Longmire, too) still like quality television. But I also hope the producers get hold of a couple of the other Jesse Stone books, as they would make great episodes.