Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006)

Sadly Over-hyped

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This is a very good movie. Tom Selleck is a fired LAPD homicide detective. He was fired for being drunk on the job probably because of his divorce. He gets the job as police chief in a small Massachusetts but only because the local powers think he is a has been. Gee are they wrong!! This is kind of a slow moving movie as the backgrounds are being developed for the rest of the movies to come (even though this was the second one aired). Stephan Baldwin plays a really good "a hole" of a punk. He thinks he is a real tough guy but he really doesn't know tough. As the movie goes along Tom finds a very nice love interest in Polly Shannon the town attorney. I found the saddest part of the film to be when Boomer (Tom's dog) has to be put down due to renal failure. It is a touching scene. The ending is pretty nice, the baddies are brought to justice i.e. one killed and one arrested plus the cops come out on top. I really enjoy all the Jesse Stone movies

Tom Selleck is 66 now, and close to that during this series. I like him, but he is too old for this character. At most, it should have been a guy maybe 50 or 55. Although granted, I don't know how old the character is in the book series.They never tell us why he is so depressed, and why he started drinking. I like a little mystery, but at some point, you have to let us know what the hell is going on, or we can't empathize with the character. O.K., L.A. cops drink. But they can still have a personality.If I met a guy who gave one word answers, and answered questions with another question, I would want to punch him. Either Selleck is overdoing this stoicism, or the Director is.As far as girls 30 and 40 years younger, throwing themselves at him, I suppose it's possible. He's tall, rugged, and mysterious, but the guy is a total loser. Rather than have people constantly ask if his lady friends are too young for him, wny not just make the character a little younger?Having said all that, I do like the atmosphere, the character development of other characters, some of the dialogue, and the plot line. It just could have been so much better, with more background on the main character, and a younger actor, for believability.

I watched this movie last night, a year after it originally came out. I believe it was on CBS. I had no idea that Selleck was involved in another TV series. Well, at least a TV series of movies. I have often wondered why it has taken him so long to get back into television. Having not read any of Parkers's books, I cannot comment on the plots in any of these Jesse Stone movies. I would, however, like to suggest that this series may want to follow a storyline similar to the old Route 66 with George Maharis and Martin Milner, with Stone as a retired drifter cop getting himself involved in situations as he travels the country and then assisting law enforcement in a behind-the-shadows way. When one crime is solved he moves on to another but never settling down.

This was very good for a TV movie. Tom Sellek played a likable but deeply flawed character, which is a refreshing change to his squeaky clean image. Reminded me a little of a more dramatic version of Jim Rockford. His attraction for women was a bit over done, with several babes literally flinging themselves at him as soon as they meet. Also a bit unrealistic that this small, somewhat rural MA town has several truly knock out women. However, that is a general TV tendency, which I would not dump specifically on this movie. The movie dragged a little at times, but was well acted and suspenseful. Sellek showed some dramatic acting chops several times, especially when dealing with calls from his ex-wife and the death of his dog. Supporting cast was also good, with their response to the new (drunk) sheriff realistically portrayed. Would make an excellent pilot for a series, which may be the intent.