Jesse Stone is a former L.A. homicide detective who left behind the big city and an ex-wife to become the police chief of the quiet New England fishing town of Paradise. Stone's old habits die hard as he continues to indulge his two favorite things: Scotch whiskey and women. After a series of murders, the first ever in Paradise, and a high school girl is raped he's forced to face his own demons in order to solve the crimes.
Acting
Selleck's best work — wounded, magnetic, surprisingly fragile.
Direction
Harmon lets silences breathe; Nova Scotia stands in beautifully.
Score
Jeff Beal's jazz-tinged melancholy haunts every frame.
Director
Robert Harmon
Tom Selleck
Jesse Stone
Kathy Baker
Rose Gammon
Kohl Sudduth
Luther 'Suitcase' Simpson
Viola Davis
Molly Crane
Jane Adams
Brianna Lincoln
Shawn Roberts
Bo Marino
Cindy Sampson
Barbara Carey
Alexis Dziena
Candace Pennington
Mimi Rogers
Rita Fiore
Polly Shannon
Abby Taylor
Reg Rogers
Andrew Lincoln
Stephen McHattie
Captain Healy
Alex House
Kevin Feeney
Vito Rezza
Anthony D'Angelo
Victoria Snow
Margaret Pennington
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Robert B. Parker wrote the Jesse Stone novels specifically hoping Selleck would play him — rare case of author casting dreams coming true.
This launched CBS's most unlikely franchise: nine films over thirteen years, outlasting most theatrical series, because boomers never stopped watching Tom Selleck be sad.
US
