Feds Week Minisode: Jesse Stone Action Mystery TV Movies with Tom Selleck Reviewed

[00:00:00] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information. This somebody might hold a grudge. Do you have a name? Tom Selleck is back. We going after this? I'm going after this. In one of the best roles of his career. You cross the line, I'll put you away. Smart. Heroic. Unforgettable.

[00:00:29] Where you been? Fighting crime. I will kick you around this town until you look like roadkill. I'm going to find out one way or the other. If you don't like the answers you're getting, check your premises. My sense is you're going after somebody. You're a tough guy. I'm tough enough.

[00:01:39] Welcome all. I'm back. I'm back in action. Here for another takedown summary. Just beloved. Just cult movies and TV shows. I love just summing up something you might have heard of, but not know what it was about. And I'm pretty cultured. My parents always just had me checking out different movie and TV franchises. And I kind of just took it from there. I just was very cultured.

[00:02:07] You know, I was watching PBS with my grandmother. I was reading some of the same books my siblings have read. I played video games. I got into comics, especially ones based on movies and just always admire just different actors, different genres. And it didn't have to be award winning every time.

[00:02:28] But I just loved how there was just so many different just, you know, TV movies and let alone TV shows, miniseries. And in this case, what I'm talking about tonight is a series of TV movies. So yeah, I just, I ate these up. I loved them. And I just applauded how so many of the movies just live on.

[00:02:58] People might have seen a few different ones because they were just, just very intriguing. So tonight we are talking about just an impressive series of action crime mystery movies called Jesse Stone. A awesome comeback role for TV favorite Tom Selleck.

[00:03:23] This is before he made Blue Bloods, which is kind of a bland family friendly cop show that's going to be on for years. But you know, a long way from Magnum, which was a comfort food by the future NCIS creators. But you know, those were way more notable and intriguing and again, able to be intense for the adults while also somewhat kid friendly. And you know, made a sex symbol out of them practically.

[00:03:51] But yeah, Jesse Stone was a cool comeback for him. Just seeing him be gritty. Co-stars included Mimi Rogers, various other actors. Alex Carter from CSI was a bad guy in one of them. Leslie Hope was a recurring love interest. He was also a federal agent. And it's shot in Canada and like many of these, it was produced by CBS and Hallmark.

[00:04:22] Critics weren't really crazy about it, but all the various book clubs and movie and TV review sides dug it. And what can I say? You know, Robert Mandel of FX fame did a good slam bang job with the first movie. That was just a very creepy serial killer. And it's very much as close as you're going to get to a U.S. equivalent of, you know, Cracker or Helen Mirren's prime suspect.

[00:04:51] I use those as references just because those are just perfect. Those were the ones that kind of started the show in the 90s. You know, by the 80s, both U.S. and U.K. TV was having a serialized TV that was edgy and oversaturated by the time it got to the 2000s. But all nine of these movies, what they do so well is just making the character go on a journey. You just and the setting is very cool.

[00:05:21] It's, you know, it talks about an Arizona and California raised cop. And he's in a small town of Paradise, Massachusetts, based on the actual real life town of Marblehead. And he becomes the chief of police while getting over drinking and affairs. And it was the is really only based on nine different books, but the kind of what their own way with it.

[00:05:51] Later on, the character appears in other stuff by other authors. But yeah, Robert B Parker was better known for his books that became TV movies and TV show adaptations, various versions of Spencer for Hire. Yeah, that's right. The private eye show. And it falls. I think what this does slightly better is, you know, he's not a cool cop like Kojak and nothing wrong with that.

[00:06:20] I love Kojak, but he's more of a just get his shit together, keep everyone in line, get himself in line. And sometimes he can't do both. Sometimes he's just very cranky or just very troubled or in a love triangle with some other mysterious people have come through town. And the captain is played by Stephen McHaddy, who's been a big bad in so many different movies and shows.

[00:06:49] Molly Crane, one of the deputies, is played by future award winner Viola Davis. And this was pretty much one of the first things I saw her in, that is for sure. And, you know, I saw everything from Doubt, which she's in, as well as just other popcorn and Law & Order type movies and shows. Jesse's dog is played by different dog actors and that gives him some characters, you know, who doesn't love a good old dog.

[00:07:18] And the various personas and colorful casino owners and criminals are awesome. The doctor who checks on Jesse once in a while and is kind of his best friend, is played by TV favorite William Devane, who you're going to know from everything. West Wing, Stargate, Knotts Landing, 24. And yeah, Kathy Baker does good in her supporting role. William Sadler is another guy supporting Batty, if I recall correctly.

[00:07:48] When is he not? I know he's not always, but for the most part he is. There's plenty of other intriguing characters. I didn't really, the last two movies didn't really blow me away, but I think it's because so much time had passed. Like they were producing them on a yearly basis, like from 06 to 2010, to 2011. And then kind of took a hit, I lost track somehow by 2012 and then 2015 they produced the ninth and final movie.

[00:08:16] But I've heard talks that they'll kind of keep continuing these. Just the reason they didn't keep up with it, I think, was just CBS abandoned their Sunday night, Saturday night, you know, movie format due to low ratings. But these were pretty well rated, you know. I do see them reshow on Hallmark once in a while. The first movie is rated R for DVD release, but I didn't see anything that you couldn't show a teenager.

[00:08:44] You know, just people getting up out of bed after having had a one night stand and some blood at a crime scene. But nothing you wouldn't, again, see on CSI or even a PBS British show. So I don't know what they're talking about. I think it was just the motion pictures. The MPAA just likes to be, you know, cock blocker. Yeah, but so many of the recurring characters, you know, it's kind of like any good detective stuff.

[00:09:14] Everyone profiles each other and brings out their truce. And that complements the otherwise already gritty mysteries. Ah, Steven Baldwin was a bad guy in one of these and that didn't sit well with me. But fortunately he doesn't speak all that much and he does a wonderful death. So not too many actors who are off color here.

[00:09:38] Krista Allen, the movie's half color favorite, was kind of a show girl in one of these. But she was playing a character played by another actress previously. Saul Rubinick from Frasier and Warehouse 13 was also good on here and he was another rascal.

[00:09:55] And I think much like typical Tom Selleck, he just does good at just doing a mixture of profiling and just all these movies pretty much in the same damn way where he's in trouble but his teammates show up and save him. Or he gets beat up by the bad guys but then traps them in something and then there's a big pistol or shotgun shootout.

[00:10:18] So, but just the music is really complimentary of just the Massachusetts tone. It gives that scenic flavor that it needs. The filmmakers are inspired at creating, crafting the suspense without feeling restricted by their TV budget. And really, like, whoever threw money at this, much like some of the other US and British shows we've covered on here, I'm like, it looks like cable TV level.

[00:10:48] It does not look like typical TV level where it's just a steady cam and closed off film sets. It's not, it's, you're seeing them go out into the various wilderness during the various boat and car searches and seeing the characters even just eat and reflect on their lives. That, that is the winning heart of this. That is why this did so well. And kudos to them.

[00:11:15] I mean, it's not easy for everyone to adapt a book and make it theatrical, let alone cinematic in any kind of capacity. But this is, if you're gonna do examples, you know, before we had stuff like Bosch, this would be a perfect example. In fact, this might be a good companion piece if you're a fan of that show or its books as well.

[00:11:37] In fact, Michael Connolly or John Grissom, if you guys are, eat that stuff up, you're probably gonna like this as well, even though there's not really any lawyers. But, similar kind of craft at just getting inside everybody's mind, no stone left untouched. And, yeah, you'll probably dig it. I definitely did. I recommend all nine movies. Again, not as crazy about those last two. I don't think they were running out of steam.

[00:12:06] It's just a lot of time had passed, so I don't know why they waited as long as they did. But, definitely, definitely recommended. And, altogether, just very intriguing. And, if you guys want to, please leave a review. Please let us know how we're doing, what we're not doing well. We only get better if you leave your two cents. Much like these movie reviews, we strive for perfection.

[00:12:33] So, hope we could entertain you on this episode. And, you guys have a wonderful rest of the day. We'll return after these messages. If you like small town mystery, crazy news, and wild history, then the Florida Men on Florida Man podcast is for you. Each week, Josh Mills and Wayne McCarty bring you the absolute best Florida has to offer.

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