Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The music in "Sea Change" from 2007 I believe is Brahms piano music, and it's lovely and sets the mood beautifully. As with the last Jesse Stone film I saw, the mood is depression.I actually am seeing these out of order -- in the other one I saw, Jesse was off the police force. Here he is the Police Chief and talking to his ex-wife on the phone all the time. Afraid of going back to his alcoholic ways, he consults a psychiatrist (William Devane).He also dives into two cases: an old bank robbery case where a teller was killed, and an alleged rape. The town council isn't crazy about that one because of the tourist trade.I thought the script was very good, as were the production values. Unlike many on this board, I am not sold on Tom Selleck in this role. Yes, he looks weathered. This is a complicated, multilayered role and I don't see the layers in Selleck. I see him being very serious and looking miserable.Also, it plays against the qualities that made him a star, a special presence, charm for days, and a flair for comedy. And let's not forget the dimpled smile. Here he's morose. Frankly, it makes the character kind of boring even though he's obviously very smart.The other major problem for me in this episode was Sean Young, whom I never could stand.The rest of the cast is very good and top-notch: Kathy Baker, Stephen McHattie, William Devane, and Kohl Sudduth.I just wish these movies had a little more spark.

The Jesse Stone films starring Tom Selleck as a weathered police chief battling alcoholism after his divorce are a good fit for Selleck in these run of made for television films.In Sea Change Stone is trying to solve two cases at once in the small New England town. One is an alleged rape case of an 18 year old in a yacht, the other is a unsolved murder case of a bank teller from the past. Stone and his therapist hope that investigating these cases would keep his mind of the drink as he keeps himself busy and occupied.The film has a good strong cast with Kathy Baker and Viola Davis. They are joined here by William Sadler and Sean Young but despite the cast and Selleck's efforts, its a run of the mill television film. The plot is humdrum and some of the better actors deserve a better script.

Robert Parker, like novelist Georges Simenon, was a master of his craft. Both men knew how to say just enough, and no more, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks. Parker's books are really acts of collaboration between writer and reader. It is rare for a film to capture the spirit of the book it sprang from, and rarer still for the film to be faithful to the writer's method. The Jesse Stone films are the wonderful exception. They are true to the books, and faithful to Parker's lean, spare style. Less is always more, like a Japanese line drawing. These films are beautifully crafted little gems. High marks to all who had a hand in their production.

Tom Sellewck, (Chief Jesse Stone) assumes the role as Police Chief in a small local town in Mass. and finds himself getting bored with talking to his ex-wife and drinking a entire bottle of scotch during the evening while his companion, the dog keeps him company and watches every move Jesse makes. Jesse gets himself involved with a Cold Case of a woman who was killed during a robbery in 1992 and finds out there was a great deal of money involved with this robbery and some big time mob bosses were laundering money. While this investigation is going on, Jesse solves a rape case that happened to a young girl on a schooner in the harbor. There are many twists and turns to this film and it will keep you guessing right to the very end of the film. Great entertaining film with a cast of great actors.