Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)

Admirable film.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Yet another strong episode in an excellent franchise. By definition the late Robert B. Parker left behind a finite number of Jesse Stone novels and in terms of new titles his estate has commissioned at least two other writers to keep the character of Stone before the public. In terms of television adaptations this appears to be the first title not based on an actual Parker novel. In terms of quality the change is barely noticeable and as usual it finds Jesse Stone involved in simultaneous cases. Whereas in Death In Paradise the local ambiguous gangster figure was named Finn and killed off we now have Gino Fish, ostensibly a boxing promoter, and a regular character in the Parker novels. Whilst Viola Davis was the best thing in the early episodes her replacement, Rose Gammon, played by Kathy Baker is only a notch behind Davis. Another fine episode.

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.

I love the Jesse Stone series but I have to say this is the worst one of the bunch. The storyline and plot are pretty bland and a lot of the same dialogue from the other films. The way the actors talked did not seem real as they were spouting off fast dialogue and weren't talking in a tone or pace that most people do(hard to explain if you haven't seen it) Hopefully the next movie will learn from this one's mistakes. Jesse is still seen moping around and doesn't go anywhere with his exwife. Nothing really changed from the other ones. While this was not as in depth or just not as interesting as the previous 6, which I really enjoyed. Weakest of the series. Should be subtitled: A brooding Jesse stares at his dog. Abrupt transitions and ending. Issues left resolved. Feels incomplete.

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.