This one was merely okay, the twist was somewhat unsubtle and sudden

JWJanneck

I like the Jesse Stone series---with generally very good acting, good production values, atmospheric photography and good direction, they are head and shoulders above average TV fare (I could do without the corny freeze-frame cuts, though). Selleck delivers an excellent performance, and his supporting cast turns in some fine acting as well. The movies are a bit formulaic: some big crime mixed with a human interest piece that Chief Stone usually handles by threatening someone or beating someone up, plus a romantic interest, usually the first reasonably attractive woman to walk onto the screen (although this time it was the second---my money initially was on the dog owner, but she wasn't it). However, the small-town atmosphere comes across nicely, the plots are reasonably complex, and the human interest story lines provide some intermittent satisfaction and an opportunity for Selleck to show another side of his character.

SPOILERS! The one problem I had with this installment is that its resolution is somewhat sudden, and also not a little corny. Even though a viewer might have guessed it (it was pretty clear that the false suspect would turn out to be misdirection), the piece of evidence providing the crucial insight is delivered a few seconds before the final showdown (unless I missed a clue at the false suspect's maritime experience before then), and then it's a few seconds of high noon in a warehouse and that was it: game over.

Still, not the worst way to spend 90 minutes or so, which you probably have discovered for yourself already, otherwise you hopefully wouldn't read this spoiler-ridden review.

score 6/10

JWJanneck 2 October 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1954650/