Lost in Paradise (Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise) (Blu-ray) (2015)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2015
Running Time	89:01
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Robert Harmon
Studio Distributor	ViaVision	Starring	Tom Selleck William Devane Kohl Sudduth Leslie Hope Luke Perry William Sadler Kerri Smith Christine Tizzard
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

     Two years after the events of Benefit of the Doubt Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck), Police Chief of the town of Paradise, Massachusetts, is not in a good place. His dog has died, he is drinking heavily, seeing a psychiatrist, and he is still in love with ex-wife. While Jesse has not moved on others have; his part time lover Thelma (Gloria Reuben) has left Paradise and his old friend Boston Police Captain Healey has taken retirement, to be replaced in charge of Boston Homicide by Lieutenant Sydney Greenstreet (Leslie Hope). Crime is virtually non-existent in Paradise; bored, lonely and at a loose end, Jesse makes a deal with Lieutenant Greenstreet to become a consultant for Boston Homicide, reviewing open, unsolved cases. His attention is drawn to the case of serial killer Richard Steele (Luke Perry) who has confessed to murdering three prostitutes. A fourth prostitute was also murdered using exactly the same modus operandi as the other three; everyone assumes that Steele had also murdered this woman but he vehemently denies it. Jesse in inclined to believe Steele and embarks on a quest to find the killer of the fourth murdered woman. But someone seems to have knowledge of his every step.

     Lost in Paradise (also known as Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise) 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. Lost in Paradise is the ninth and last TV movie in the set and the third in this Jesse Stone: Triple Film Collection One box set.

     Like all the better crime and police shows, Lost in Paradise is as much about the characters and their relationships as the crimes. Thus in the course of the investigation Jesse manages to adopt a new dog and has scenes with continuing characters including his psychiatrist Dr Dix (William Devane), Sister Mary (Kerri Smith), boxing promoter and underworld figure Gino Fish (William Sadler) and Fish’s PA Amanda (Christine Tizzard) while, running parallel with the murder investigation, Jesse befriends thirteen year old Paradise girl Jenny (Mackenzie Foy) whose single mother is an alcoholic, a condition Jesse knows only too well.

    Lost in Paradise is a strong conclusion to this three film set. Tom Selleck is excellent bringing strength and vulnerability in equal measure and he effortlessly carries the programme. The film looks good, with nice the seaside locations while Jeff Beal’s score continues to be impressive and atmospheric.

Video

     Lost in Paradise 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 generally natural, although the Paradise scenes have a grey look and the Boston scenes have a very yellow look. Blacks are solid and shadow detail good, skin tones natural, brightness and contrast consistent. Marks and artefacts were absent except for some motion blur against vertical lines.

     No subtitles are provided.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

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 impact of the car that tries to ram Jesse’s car and the gunshots, are clear and loud. The subwoofer mostly supported the thunder, rain and music.

    The wonderful, evocative score by Jeff Beal helps set the tone of the film.

    Lip synchronisation was fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

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

     This release of Lost in Paradise is part of the 3 disc Jesse Stone: Triple Film Collection One (see details in the summary section below). Lost in Paradise 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.

     Lost in Paradise is an excellent TV film; it has a great cast including a spot on Tom Selleck, believable characters and situations, good locations and an atmospheric score. Fans will not be disappointed.

    The video and audio are good, no extras.

     Lost in Paradise is included in the three disc Jesse Stone: Triple Film Collection One from ViaVision together with Innocents Lost (2011) and Benefit of the Doubt (2012). Although this is called “Film Collection One”, the three TV movies included are in fact the last three films in the series.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall