Innocents Lost (Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost) (Blu-ray) (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	90:50
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Dick Lowry
Studio Distributor	ViaVision	Starring	Tom Selleck Kathy Baker Kohl Sudduth Stephen McHattie Jeff Geddis William Sadler Eileen Boylan
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Jeff Beal

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) is at rock bottom; he has been fired as the Police Chief of the town of Paradise, Massachusetts, is drinking heavily, seeing a psychiatrist and unable to talk to his ex-wife; even his dog refuses to sit beside him. Jesse however still has friends inside the Paradise police force in Rose (Kathy Baker) and Luther (Kohl Sudduth) and has sex without commitment with secretary at a used car saleyard Thelma (Gloria Reuben). Boston Police Commissioner Healey (Stephen McHattie) is also an old friend and calls Jesse with a proposition; a young black man has been arrested for robbing a liquor store and shooting the owner in the face. However, Healey is not convinced that the man is guilty, despite the evidence, and asks Jesse to investigate further.

     Jesse agrees but he has an ulterior motive and a special request. He asks Healey for a Police Badge because, as well as doing what the Commissioner wants, Jesse intends to investigate the death of a young girl named Cindy (Eileen Boylan) who had been found dead in her car from a suspected overdose only a few kilometres from Jesse’s house. Cindy, whom Jesse had previously arrested and befriended, was from a wealthy Paradise family and had written to Jesse shortly before her death. Jesse quickly finds evidence that establishes that the young black man could not have been the killer of the liquor store owner. However, his investigations into Cindy’s death bring Jesse into contact with some of Paradise’s most prominent citizens as well as Boston’s sleazy underworld of drugs and prostitution. For, even if Cindy had died of an accidental overdose, Jesse is determined to find the persons responsible.

     Innocents Lost (also known as Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost) is a TV movie based on the characters created by best-selling author Robert B Parker; he wrote twelve books in which Jesse Stone features and there have been nine TV movies made with Tom Selleck in the role, the first Stone Cold in 2005. Innocents Lost is the seventh TV movie in the set, so coming to the series, and the character, for the first time, as I did, there is a fair bit of baggage from earlier films and a bit of sorting out the relationships between the various characters to be done. It is not essential, however, to know anything about the background or the characters if you come to Innocents Lost fresh, although it would help.

     Like all the better crime and police shows, Innocents Lost is more about the characters and their relationships than the crimes. Tom Selleck, in the role of a grizzled and gruff older man, is excellent bringing strength and vulnerability in equal measure. However, as this film is in the middle of the series of films, Innocents Lost does not have much of a character arc for any of the other characters, including Luke or Rose. The film does meander a bit and, as well, the climax is disappointing; will shooting one pimp / pusher dead really resolve the drug addiction problem? Or address the systematic failures of care within the Paradise establishment?

    Innocents Lost looks good, with nice locations, Jeff Beal’s score is excellent , Tom Selleck is worth watching and if the resolution is somewhat disappointing, the set up and characters are interesting.

Video

     Innocents Lost is in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, MPEG 4 AVC encoded.

     This is a clean and good looking print. Widescreen shots of the Paradise bay and waterfront are strong as are close ups of Selleck’s grizzled face. Colours are natural, although with that digital flatness and sheen. Blacks are solid and shadow detail good, skin tones natural, brightness and contrast consistent. There was some noise reduction in early scenes but otherwise marks and artefacts were absent.

     No subtitles are provided.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
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Audio

     The audio is lossy English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 640 Kbps.

     This is not an action film so the audio is fine. Dialogue is easy to understand and ambient effects, including thunder and rain, occurred in the rears. Effects, such as the gunshots at the end are clear and loud. The subwoofer mostly supported the thunder, rain and music.

    The wonderful, evocative score is by Jeff Beal, one of my favourite TV composers with music for series such as Rome and House of Cards on his resume. He has 136 credits on the IMDb, but I think he is one on the most underrated composers going round.

    Lip synchronisation was fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
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Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     No extras. The silent menu has “Play Film” as the only option.

     This release of Innocents Lost is part of the 3 disc Jesse Stone: Triple Film Collection One (see details in the summary section below). Innocents Lost has been released as a stand-alone DVD previously in various regions as well as being included in various Jesse Stone Collections. This Australian release is, however, the only Blu-ray listed on Amazon.com.

     Innocents Lost may not be the best entry point for the Jesse Stone series due to the lack of character development or exposition. However, you can get into the film without prior knowledge of the characters and Tom Selleck is very good.

    The video and audio are good, no extras.

     Innocents Lost is included in the three disc Jesse Stone: Triple Film Collection One from ViaVision together with Benefit of the Doubt (2012) and Lost in Paradise (2015). Although this is called “Film Collection One”, the three TV movies included are in fact the last three films in the series.

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