Jesse Stone, Innocents Lost (2011)  

Review written March 2012

Welcome continuation of much loved characters, lacking narrative drive

Tom Selleck returns in what has to now be considered one of his finest roles, as Robert Parker's damaged Chief of Police of a remote Massachusetts town. Or actually, following the events of the previous movie, now the former Chief of Police. As always, the pleasure of watching these movies is not so much what happens, as what doesn't happen.. there's no action set piece, no car chase.. just a flawed individual trying to do what he does best, while coming to terms with his failed marriage and subsequent drinking problem.

This time round, it is the apparent suicide of a young woman which gets Stone investigating. His mentor-like relationship with the girl is explored in flashback, against his search for the truth in present day for how such an unlikely event could occur. Needless to say, foul play becomes evident, and Stone has to do what a man has to do in his own unique style to see the bad guys brought to justice.

Tom Selleck is still terrific in the role, spending long moments swirling the whiskey in his tumbler while facing off against his dog who he decides `has intimacy issues'. The dog actually gets close to outperforming the humans at times, with those mournful face-offs against Selleck. While Selleck has `nailed the role' (to quote Parker himself), with Jesse no longer the Chief of Police, the plot machinations to get him sleuthing again seem somehow a little more contrived and not as naturalistic as we have come to expect, and the movie does feels lacking in focus. There's the usual cameos of characters from the series (Saul Rubinek, William Devane) who add to a sense of worthiness to the production, and giving the movie enough of a lived in feel to be worth spending time on for an hour and a half. The gentle soundtrack adds to a well worn feel of a place and people you are happy to join the company of, but you might struggle to remember much about it the next day, other than its well developed sense of mood.

So I would say, if you're new to Jesse Stone, go back to the start and watch Jesse Stone: Night Passage and Stone Cold first. If you're already a fan you're still going to enjoy spending more time with these uniquely introspective characters, but here's hoping the show regains some narrative drive before its next outing.