Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost

When it comes to television, I only have a few favorite shows that I enjoy watching on a regular basis. Right now it's Justified, Dexter, The Big C with Laura Linney and Oliver Platt, and the "Jesse Stone" series, starring Tom Selleck. The Big C and the "Jesse Stone" series, however, are the only two shows that yank at my heart strings and make me feel something other than the adrenaline rush associated with violent action and horror scares.For me the "Jesse Stone" television series (CBS only televises about one show a year) is about people with weaknesses, struggling to do the right thing and sometimes failing in their quest. It's about deep loss and the things people do to cope with it. The stories also deal with love, especially the love a man has for his ex-wife and being unable to let go, whether it's addiction, co-dependence, or obsession. Let's not forget about the theme of action and reaction, and dealing with the consequences. The stories concern themselves with addiction, the things that cause us to become addicted, and the gradual, but very hard road to recovery. It's about how good people do bad things and how sometimes bad people do good things when you least expect it. It's about friendship and how we treat our friends on a day-to-day basis. In many ways, it's also a show about life and death, and how we live our lives during the brief time we're given.Whenever a new "Jesse Stone" movie comes on TV, it like revisiting with old friends you haven't seen in a few years. There's a comforting feeling about it. I think that's why so many viewers enjoy this series with Tom Selleck in it. For me, it was no different with Innocents Lost. It was just like picking up where No Remorse ended, except that Robert Harmon wasn't directing this time out. Dick Lowry took over the reins of that position.Spoiler Alert! So don't read any further if you have a problem with that. Anyway, this time around a new police chief has taken over Jesse's job in Paradise. His name is William Butler, and he's the son-in-law of councilman, Carter Hanson, the guy who wanted Jesse fired from his job. Jesse, however, was forcibly retired, which means that he at least has an income to live off of, though it may not be much. The reason I say "not much" is because when he visits Dr. Dix for this therapy sessions, he has to start running a tab for a while because he can't afford to pay $180 an hour for a shrink. The two cases Jesse gets involved with in this movie have to do with the death of a young friend, Cindy Van Aldan, whom he'd lost contact with; yet, she dies from a drug overdose on her way to see him. The second case is through Captain Healy in Boston. A man arrested for the murder of a convenience store owner is about to be sentenced, and Healy thinks he's actually innocent of the crime. Healy wants Jesse Stone to find proof of the accused person's innocence before the sentencing takes place. Jesse will take on the job, but only if the state police captain gives him a badge to use. Jesse, of course, then uses the badge to delve into the death of his friend, which later gets him into trouble with Healy. Still, thanks to the help of Sister Mary John and Gino Fish, Jesse is able to track down the killer of his friend and then sets everything up so the killer will come after him. The case for Healy also falls together, though not quite in the way they expected. By the end of the show, Suitcase has quit the force, and who knows what Rose will do down the road. Right now, she needs the job.Anyway, it was fun seeing Kathy Baker back again as Rose Gamon, one of the officers on Jesse's old police force, along with Kohl Sudduth as police officer Luther "Suitcase" Simpson. William Devane as Dr. Dix always delivers a quirky, yet powerful performance. Saul Rubinek is back as Hasty Hathaway, and he still thinks Jesse had an affair with his ex-wife, though he is still quite fond of Jesse. And, let's not forget Stephen McHattie as Captain Healy. He's the kind of friend every man needs when times get tough. Then there's the lovely Kerri Smith as Sister Mary John, and you wonder if she and Jesse will ever get together for more than dinner and a discussion about girls and drug addiction. William Sadler as Gino Fish is almost a likable guy now that he's put Jesse on the list of people he'll see at any time and helps the ex-cop to find the killer of Cindy. It also helps that Gino has a new personal assistant manning the front office now that Allen is dead--the provocative and beautiful and ultra sexy Amanda, played by Christine Tizzard. For me, she's much more pleasant to look at than Allen was though she shares the dead Allen's attitude. To put it bluntly, Amanda's snooty.I have to admit that this particular show had an extremely large amount of beautiful actresses in it, and it makes me wonder if Tom Selleck had anything to do with the casting. There's Gloria Rueben, who plays Hasty's secretary and Jesse's love interest. Rae Ritke plays Cindy's mother, and I have to say she could easily give the women of Desperate Housewives a run for their money. Stacey Smith plays the college administrator that Jesse visits to find out more about Cindy, and she's a looker, too.Here's one thing, however, that needs to be fixed in the series. The Jesse Stone character has had his dog, Reggie, since the first episode. It's about time he started playing with him. Gosh, the sad expressions on Reggie's face breaks my heart each time I see it. Playing with a dog takes more than patting the cushion next to you to see if the animal dog will come over. Most dogs need attention and to be played with on a daily basis by their owners. After all, dogs have feelings, too. If Jessie doesn't start treating Reggie right, I'm going to call the Dog Whisperer.While I'm ranting, here's another thing that's starting to disturb me. Jesse has to get a handle on the booze. He needs to stop drinking for the most part and get his job back so Suitcase and Rose don't end up leaving town. If they go, Paradise will be up the creek without a paddle. Jesse also needs to get another telephone for the house so his friends can reach him and not die in the process. In other words, Jesse needs to shape up and get his act together. Everybody has problems, and the majority of people find a way of dealing with them so they can function in day-to-day society.One last rant and then I'm done for the day. The DVD of Innocents Lost doesn't have any extras on it. Shame on the people who put the DVD together. Why not some interviews with the cast and producers and writers? Why not a look at the series versus the novels and why the series decided to branch off from the books? Why not a "Making Of" featurette? I think Stone Cold was the only one of the movies to have any extras at all. If these DVDs are going to cost an arm and a leg when they come out, at least give the viewers something more than the movie to watch.That's it. Another "Jesse Stone" movie is due out in 2012.

I watched some of these episodes years ago but didn't really get into them. I thought the banter was kind of self-conscious and annoying. Just this week I watched them all again, starting with the second episode which is really a prequel which sets up all of the rest. For some reason this time around the series really clicked for me. I was still a little irritated by the banter. For example Stone tells everybody to call him "Jesse" and then when they say something to him and don't add "Jesse" at the end, he corrects them and they repeat it with "Jesse" at the end. Frankly if he did that to me I would just stare at him like "who are you to tell me how to talk?" He's not the most likeable character but yet he's totally charismatic at the same time (I'm a girl, so I fall for that type) ... he has an inner sense of right and wrong that is very appealing, it matches mine. He sometimes says "I'm not in the right or wrong business, I'm in the legal or illegal business" but then he doesn't exactly follow that code. There are a few times where he orchestrates a situation by manipulating events to sucker some bad guy into coming after him so he can ambush him and kill him and have it be justifiable. So his moral/ethical code is strong but the illegal/legal thing, not so much.I wish he were nicer to the dogs in his life, but then again he's a morose alcoholic nursing his pain over various losses in his past so he has trouble bonding.The ex-wife thing, that's something you don't see throughout several story arcs, but to be honest it got a bit old. She didn't seem all that INTERESTING to be honest, why is he still holding a torch for this person?

I would actually give this 4 1/2 stars if I had that option. This series of movie of Jesse Stone is very good. In addition, the writing and acting are very good as well.

Love the Jesse Stone movies!! We have all of them and watch them over and over!

These “stone” movies are very good. Followed the books. If you read the books, yuou won’t be disappointed. If not, then these movies are a freat substitute!

Who doesn't like TOM SELLECK. Good movie

Love this series

Jesse Stone movies are great. The plots are interesting and Tom Selleck brings the character to life. The other characters are neat people ! The series is a refreshing change from a lot of the current offerings!

Love the Jesse stone series.

my fault I did not read properly that it was a region 1 only therefore only playable in the US.Why advertise in the UK or Europe?

Interesting and up to date story, as story line is about abuse of several kinds,Excellent portrayal of characters by talented cast. Worth money to keep DVDs as you note some careful nuances every time you see these tales.

I am collecting all the series. Good movie Good price

Love, love, love Jesse Stone.Love Tom Selleck too.He portrays this sad man in a new town.The cast is brilliant.Antone fancying a new police drama check this out.Just so good.