Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt
Jesse finds himself struggling to get his job back as the Paradise police chief, and he is forced to rely on his cop intuition to sort through a maze of misleading clues and hidden meanings as he attempts to solve a shocking and horrifying mob-related double homicide.
-
- Cast:
- Tom Selleck , Kathy Baker , Kohl Sudduth , Gloria Reuben , Stephen McHattie , William Sadler , Robert Carradine
Similar titles
Reviews
Touches You
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
The eighth film in the Jesse Stone series based upon the characters created by Robert B. Parker. If you had read all my previous reviews of this series, you would know how much I'm looking forward for this. Not like I'm happy with the series to continue, but the last couple of films were below par than usual Jesse films. Like always, I went for it expecting the series could get better, and does it fulfill my desire? I won't say it did, but surely a decent one. It had the opportunity to become much better than that, but it was the story, like they wanted to start off again from the scratch. So it was kind of a refresher in the series, there's big changes you would find from the very first scene itself.Jesse received his PPD cap, that mean he's back, but he's the only one left in the force. This time he brought in to investigate the death of his rival in the department. He also has a strong back from the town council, as well as from his Boston boss. So this is an important case for everyone, particularly for Jesse to get back like he always say this is his last stop. This is not a detached story, I mean not some new characters comes in, commits crime and got punished. This is really well improvised story within the available characters. So the viewers can be optimistic about guessing the events including the finale.Kind of depressing to see one man doing all the job. I mean it was always been like that in the series, but this time feels it was a slow presentation. Jesse is no Rambo, yet feel he's isolated. I liked how the film developed with the existing characters. That means there's a serious change in characters, like many are from the previous films went missing and some of those who appeared in this were involved in termination. So the next film will be very interesting, whether there will be a bunch of new ones or the old ones return."Cop deserves the benefit of the doubt."Regarding the case he's on, he deals it on his usual way. But nothing seems a masterful, the twist and turns are ordinary. So don't anticipate any masterstrokes. Jesse was just roaming around seeking information and then suddenly he gets a clue he was looking for. With that he uses a bait to catch the bad guys and they fall for it. But while dealing it, the event takes an unexpected turn, leaves the story might continue in the following sequel as well. That's the confusing, because the film ran for nearly 90 minutes and did nothing to end on high as it does always. So with this kind of drag, I don't know where the series is heading.Like I always say, Tom Selleck is the reason I'm still hooked to this series. In this installment, it is all about him, because like I mentioned earlier, the next to his roles like Rose and Luther are off the hook. That means the Jesse's therapist like the third string characters automatically taken the leap forward, but nothing much expectable from them. Particularly Thelma, the Hasty's assistant seems interested in Jesse, but it does not tell us how serious it is. Because fighting crime takes over the this romance, or maybe we can call a flirtation like Jesse does to gain information. I think, again the follow-up is to answer that question.After getting into the rock bottom with the last film, this one looked much better, but still not the best I was looking for. It's just trying to be a normal film, like a television film from the old days and it succeeded somehow. So definitely it is a decent comeback and there's only one film to go for me to end the Jesse Stone series. Oh, I almost forgot that the original director returned for this, that's really amazing news for the series fans. Like the old team coming together, somewhat the series back on the track. The next film that released in the 2015 was received well, that's what I've heard, so can't wait to watch it. The final review on its way, meet me there.7/10
This series is awesome; a great depiction of flawed characters with the politics of a small town.With extensive background in law enforcement, both my wife and I appreciated and found this to be very accurate, despite the Hollywood influences. Cops, unfortunately, do deal with many of the same problems; alcohol, marriage, and relationship problems. Tom Selleck does a great job with Robert Parker's character. You can feel the loneliness and isolation in Jesse Stone.In addition, the depiction of ugly death scenes is right on; no restraint. This is a great way to spend 90 minutes.
I have to say i disagree about most comments : this is a VERY good movie. It is to be seen in continuation as a series. We follow the lives of the characters : Suitcase, Rose, Hasty, Thelma, Dr. Dix(the shrink)... They are all important in Jesse's life. The benefit of doubt is in fact also for Jesse to prove for himself, that's the fine twist. He progresses psychologically in this instalment more than many of the other movies we could see, being stuck in his sorrows... Even the dog, Reggie improves his relation with Jesse(is it a spoiler???) to enforce his progression... Don't look at these movies as fast paced action flicks. There a lot of them around. BUT, good reflexive, intelligent, deep, meditative movie about a -yes- archetypal detective : lonely, divorced, alcoholic, sometimes violent(he often kills instead of arresting the culprit)...- such a good a series is very rare to find. THOSE a little jewels. Good music, superb Nova Scotia landscapes, and a good cop intrigue. GO ON, please, JESSE, we follow you .....to PARADISE!!!!!!!!!!
Why do I always end up feeling conned & duped after watching a Jesse Stone episode? I go in full of high expectations, like going into a first rate restaurant: terrific menu, great atmosphere, beautiful surroundings. And then...little bitty tastes & teasers.I've always been a fan of Tom Selleck. He's a great-looking guy with a wry sense of humor & he's aged well (although I would gently suggest he have his hairdresser lighten up on the dense blacks - looks too phony). But he spends most of his time in this episode (& the last one as I recall) standing around doing a lot of thinking & brooding & posing. Selleck wears clothes better than any actor since Gary Cooper & he has some pretty snazzy outdoorsy threads in this one. But I wound up feeling like I was watching an elaborate Eddie Bauer commercial.As for the plot...what plot? Pieces of plots. Pieces of characterizations. Snatches of dialog. In the end there were so many plot pieces left hanging & unexplained it I thought this episode might be half of a 2-parter. But as far as I can tell from IMDb this is a one-shot. So what's going on? A new mystery genre? You give viewers a few pieces of the puzzle & let them fill in the blanks?Come on, Tom, your fans & followers deserve a whole lot better. We know you can do it, that's why we keep coming back.