Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009) starring Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth, Leslie Hope, Stephen McHattie, William Sadler, Fulvio Cecere directed by Robert Harmon Movie Review

Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Tom Selleck and Kohl Sudduth in Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)

Stone is Feeling Blue

So here we are at the 5th "Jesse Stone" movie and the first which wasn't based upon a Robert B. Parker novel. The good news is that you wouldn't know because "Jesse Stone: Thin Ice" has exactly the same style as the previous movies which means not only do we have the continuation of Chief Stone and the Town council at logger heads but we also get a mix of cases which Stone finds himself involved in. What is though slightly different is the tone because whilst we still have that air of mystery "Jesse Stone: Thin Ice" is not as dark as the previous movie, in fact with no one being killed you could say it is much lighter than the previous movies but it still works.

When Chief Stone (Tom Selleck - Monte Walsh) and Captain Healey (Stephen McHattie) get shot and injured during an unofficial stake out in Boston Jesse finds himself in a whole lot of trouble. Not only does he have IA on his case over what he and Healey were up to but the Paradise town council have grown tired of his style of law keeping and are looking for any excuse to fire him, especially Councilman Carter Hansen (Jeremy Akerman - The Memory Keeper's Daughter) who takes a deep dislike to Stone's attitude. But none of this stops Jesse from not only trying to track down the man who shot him and Healey but also unofficially take on the case of Baby Blue who several years earlier was kidnapped and now is believed by his mother to be in Paradise somewhere.

Kathy Baker as Rose Gammon in Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)

Now "Jesse Stone: Thin Ice" whilst not based upon a Robert B. Parker novel still has the same style and feeling. That means that we have the continuation of elements be it Rose becoming a better police woman, Luther still recovering from the gun shot as he deals with memory issues and of course Jesse Stone's own issues. So not only do we gets mention of his ex-wife and his drinking but the issues with the town council are more prominent as they have had enough of his style of law enforcement and not flying the flag when it comes to generating money via the speed trap and parking tickets. But it also furthers the base story because as we discover early on that D'Angelo has left the force leading to more issues for Stone.

But then we also get the variety of cases which Stone finds himself involved in which this time boils down to 2. We have Elizabeth Blue who 7 years earlier was big news when her baby was stolen and she asks Chief Stone for help as she is convinced her son is in Paradise. And then we have the opening which sees Stone and Captain Healy shot at whilst they were on an unofficial stake out of sorts in Boston. All of which whilst handled in a very typical Jesse Stone sort of way, which includes flirting with an IA officer who is investigating him, but is also interesting because Stone knows that one more query against his name when it comes to his use of violence and he is out. And we also have Stone including Rose and Luther in the enquiries a lot more which provide a couple of nice twists.

Now Tom Selleck is as usual great as Jesse Stone and with the tone of "Jesse Stone: Thin Ice" shifting to being less dark he delivers a touch more subtle humour especially when he flirts with IA officer Sidney Greenstreet when she investigates him. But whilst we have a few returning faces such as Kohl Sudduth as Luther 'Suitcase' Simpson, Stephen McHattie as Captain Healy and William Sadler as Gino Fish it is Kathy Baker who steals many a scene in this 5th movie. Baker grows her character of Rose nicely making her more confident and demanding of Jesse as she sets about solving a crime she feels deeply about and she certainly fills the gap left by Viola Davis.

What this all boils down to is that "Jesse Stone: Thin Ice" is basically a nice continuation of what we have come to expect from the series, there are the crimes to be investigated as well as Stone's own story and his battle with the town council. But what makes this 5th movie nice is that the tone shifts to being lighter again with a touch more humour to things without spoiling the over all feeling.

Tags: Jesse Stone Movies


LATEST REVIEWS