By NEIL GENZLINGER
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
February 27, 2009
Chris Reardon/CBS
Tom Selleck in the television movie “Jesse Stone: Thin Ice.”
In case you haven’t already figured this out, never move to a town with a name like Bliss or Harmony or Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here. But if you do, make sure its police force is headed by someone like Tom Selleck.
On Sunday on CBS, Mr. Selleck returns as Jesse Stone, the police chief of Paradise, Mass., in “Thin Ice,” the fifth installment of a series of television movies that just keeps getting richer. Paradise, of course, is a place that crime has a habit of finding. Stone, the creation of the novelist Robert B. Parker, landed there for television purposes in 2005 in “Stone Cold,” the first movie in the series.
That film had a fair amount of humor, as Stone, a hard-boiled refugee from the Los Angeles Police Department, adjusted to his new small-town colleagues. Now, though, crime and petty politics have taken a toll on the chief, and Mr. Selleck’s portrayal in the new film reflects that perfectly.
The face so familiar from “Magnum P.I.” has developed canyons deep enough to lead a tour group through; the eyes are as weary as they are wise. William Devane is again great in a small role as Stone’s psychiatrist, but Mr. Selleck’s nicely layered character is the one you’d really want to turn to for advice, whether it be about women, liquor or just getting through the day.
“Thin Ice” is carried along by two plotlines. It opens with Stone’s friend Healy (Stephen McHattie), the state homicide commander, being shot while Stone is visiting him in Boston, and of course Stone must see that justice is served, even if it’s out of his jurisdiction. The more compelling story, though, is back in Paradise: a stranger from out of town turns up at the police station and tells Stone that she is convinced that her long-missing son is somewhere in his community.
As Stone debates whether to dismiss the woman as a crackpot, Mr. Selleck gets wonderful support from Kathy Baker, returning in her role as Rose, a Paradise police officer. And just when you think you know how things will shake out, you’re proved wrong.
“Thin Ice” has a fair number of references to the earlier films, and newcomers will occasionally feel left out. But the story remains clear, nonetheless, and the final moments are delicately understated in a way seen too seldom in made-for-TV movies.
JESSE STONE
Thin Ice
CBS, Sunday night at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8, Central time.
Produced by TWS Productions II and Brandman Productions Inc., in association with Sony Pictures Television. Directed by Robert Harmon; written by Ronni Kern, based on a story by Ms. Kern, Tom Selleck and Michael Brandman and on characters created by Robert B. Parker; Mr. Brandman and Mr. Selleck, executive producers; Mr. Brandman, producer; Mr. Harmon, co-producer; Cheryl R. Stein and John Albanis, associate producers.
WITH: Tom Selleck (Jesse Stone), Kathy Baker (Rose Gammon), Kohl Sudduth (Luther Simpson), Leslie Hope (Sidney Greenstreet), Stephen McHattie (Captain Healy), William Sadler (Gino Fish), Jessica Hecht (Stephanie Morton), Joanna Miles (Mrs. Steinberg), Fulvio Cecere (Teddy Leaf), William Devane (Dr. Dix) and Camryn Manheim (Elizabeth Blue).
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