Jesse Stone: Night Passage
By Mal Simons, Blockbuster.co.uk

“If you come near this woman again, if anything happens to her, or her kids, no matter what, no matter whose fault it is, I will kick you around this town until you look like roadkill. And if you're annoying, like you were today, I just might shoot you.”

Tom Selleck is back as Police Chief Jesse Stone in this fantastic prequel to ‘Stone Cold’. After getting divorced and then fired for drinking on the job, disgraced LAPD cop Jesse Stone relocates across country to the small town of Paradise, Massachusetts but soon finds himself investigating the murder of his predecessor.

If you missed the previous Jesse Stone outing – Stone Cold then don’t worry – this great, no-frills, made for TV movie will get you on track.

Adapted from Robert B Parker’s crime novel, Jesse Stone: Night Passage’ is a prequel to the first Jesse Stone mystery Stone Cold (2005). Accompanied by his dog Boomer, LAPD detective Jesse Stone leaves Los Angeles in disgrace after being sacked for drinking on the job. Boozing each night to dull the pain of his divorce from the love of his life, Stone decides to go for the job of Police Chief in the seemingly idyllic small town of Paradise, Massachusetts.

Stone soon discovers that appearances can be deceiving. Stone’s boss – Hastings Hathaway, the head of the town administration committee is involved in some rather questionable activities; after forcing the old Police Chief Lou Carson (Mike Starr) out of his job as he was ‘too expensive’ to keep any longer (he was on the take); the Mayor gives Stone the job despite Stone arriving at the job interview slightly drunk and smelling of scotch. Believing Stone to be a ruined man, Hathaway employs Stone, mistakenly thinking that Stone will keep a low profile.

Unfortunately for Hathaway, Stone does quite the opposite, first by making an enemy of a notorious mobster and business associate Joe Genest (Stephen Baldwin) and then by investigating the suspicious death of Lou Carson. In addition to his suspicions surrounding Genest, Stone is also suspicious of Hathaway’s intentions… afterall, he wouldn’t have given himself the job.

Best known for his role as Thomas Magnum in Magnum PI, Tom Selleck proves here that he is still a force to be reckoned with as Jesse Stone. Showing himself to be a character actor with real depth and imagination, Jesse Stone is quite possibly his best role yet – one that will have you gripped for the duration. It is the strength of Selleck’s performance, combined with the quality of this production that makes this film so very watchable.

With frequent plot twists and turns, Night Passage comes highly recommended to rent. Thriller fans will not be disappointed.

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