Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)

Watching this latest Jesse Stone film Thin Ice put me in mind of Murder She Wrote and Jessica Fletcher's little hamlet by the sea Cabot Cove. The similarities between Cabot Cove and Paradise are striking, but the attitudes are certainly different among the residents.As usual there are two cases for the small town police force to solve in this film. It opens with Tom Selleck and his friend Stephen McHattie from the State Police on a most unofficial stakeout when both are shot. Selleck manages to get off some shots and may have wounded one of the two shooters. The second is Camryn Manheim who came in from New Mexico. Her day old infant was snatched from the hospital several years ago. Mother's intuition and a strange letter tell her that her kid is in Paradise. On that very thin evidence and on her women's intuition Kathy Baker investigates with silent approval from Selleck. By the way Manheim's one scene with Selleck and Baker is unbelievably moving.But it was the side issue that grabbed me. The town council is having a hissy fit over Selleck doing a little moonlighting with McHattie. His chief critic on the council Jeremy Akerman who after unsuccessfully trying to get Selleck to hire his nephew makes it clear that his chief function as police is to nail those speeders at the local trap and generate some revenue. Selleck who worked homicide in the LAPD really thinks it beneath him. Not to mention that those murders from previous Jesse Stone stories are giving Paradise a bad name which could affect the tourist trade.Contrast that with Cabot Cove and how they treat Jessica Fletcher and think of all the murders she solved in Murder She Wrote's long run. The residents there certainly never thought of firing Tom Bosley or Ron Masak and certainly weren't about to tar and feather their most famous resident. Cabot Cove in fact had to be the murder capital of the United States. Paradise has a long way to go.I think it's the provincial attitudes of some of the people you will take away when you watch Thin Ice.

Thin Ice is the fifth Jesse Stone film, and the first that didn't come directly from one of Robert Parker's novels. Parker didn't write this one, but Thin Ice is still every bit as gripping and mysterious as the other Stone stories. Since becoming the police chief in Paradise, Massachusetts, Stone has injected himself into local business and politics, discovering a lot of corruption, and a connection to organized crime. He's done a tremendous job, but the town council is very upset with him. All these arrests and headlines have put Paradise on the front page, and it has taken it's toll on the towns main source of income, tourism. The town council tells Stone he has to tone it down or risk losing his job. In typical fashion he response by telling them, "you can fire me, but you can't tell me what to do." An upset Stone, heads to Boston to have dinner with his friend, the state homicide commander, when a mysterious shooter tries to take them both out. Now Stone is in the middle of another headline grabbing investigation that's become personal. As always Tom Selleck is terrific and pairing him Picket Fences' Kathy Baker has only made the film series that much more enjoyable for me. Every film has two mysteries that feature Stone right in the middle of the action. Thin Ice being written by a different person, shows Stone as edgier and more sarcastic, something that was interesting to see. I've read most of the novels and know the character of Jesse Stone very well, and to see him exhibit different personality traits, in an extreme situation, really was a treat for me. If you're not familiar with Jesse Stone, you should take the time to do so. He is one of the most complex characters I have ever come across and he's played by the absolute perfect choice, Tom Selleck. The man has been playing a cop for nearly 40 years and has learned a thing or two about what it takes to lead audiences through an investigation. Thin Ice was definitely a change in direction, but it works, as even in it's fifth installment, Jesse Stone is still every bit as good as it ever was.

This is clearly written as the first of two or three stories. It continues several of Robert Parker's characters very well, while seriously taking a couple along different paths. Most notably, Jesse's character has gotten more serious, and more challenged by life. There was always the sense in Selleck's portrayal of a wounded soul . . .much more so than in the books about Jesse Stone.Overall, I liked this movie a great deal. I liked the expansion of William Devane's Dr. Hix character ("Dix" in the novels) and Suitcase Simpson's continuing confusion from his previous coma is still amusing, and occasionally disconcerting. But, although I liked the character of Rose, she is no replacement for Molly. Molly and Jesse's banter from the earlier movies is sorely missed. It added the levity needed as a counterweight to the heavier story lines.I did like those story lines. The shooting of Healey at the beginning of the show starts the story with a bang, and Jesse's dogged determination to track down whoever is responsible is completely in character, even if it does hurt him professionally. The other story line, about the mother looking for her lost child, seemed at the beginning to be entirely predictable, but then it was not. Camryn Manheim, as the mother, is amazingly good here.And may I just say that I love the music in these last couple movies. The music has gotten much stronger. Piano-based with a feel of Ravel or Satie, the soundtrack composer was listed during the credits, but I didn't catch the name. I might consider buying this soundtrack.I liked the ending, but it is clearly leading to the next movie. I can only hope that "Jesse Stone: No Remorse" finishes up a couple of these story lines. I'd like to hear what's happening with Molly. And although I think they tied up the story of the lost child fairly well, the plot with Geno Fish, and the shooter of Detective Healey, seems to have much more to play out in the next movie. And of course, we need to find out what happens next with the police chief of Paradise.

A fair mystery and secondary plot, but this one doesn't measure up to the previous episodes in the series. Changing Molly to Rose is inexplicable, the town council is larger than the police force and Sidney Greenstreet(!) are just a few of the irritants. Tom Selleck is terrific as usual, Cathy Baker does a fine job as Rose and William Devane is sarcastic and entertaining but the plot with the town council just doesn't seem believable or logical.With the force down to three people with one on light duty, it seems counterproductive to threaten Chief Stone over such petty matters. Oh well, what can you expect from politicians? We hope there are more movies coming. My wife and I really like the Jesse Stone movies, but this one is not as good as the rest, not really bad, just not on par with the rest.