Good movie but grossly overrated

An Exercise In Nonsense

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Watching this latest Jesse Stone film Thin Ice put me in mind of Murder She Wrote and Jessica Fletcher's little hamlet by the sea Cabot Cove. The similarities between Cabot Cove and Paradise are striking, but the attitudes are certainly different among the residents.As usual there are two cases for the small town police force to solve in this film. It opens with Tom Selleck and his friend Stephen McHattie from the State Police on a most unofficial stakeout when both are shot. Selleck manages to get off some shots and may have wounded one of the two shooters. The second is Camryn Manheim who came in from New Mexico. Her day old infant was snatched from the hospital several years ago. Mother's intuition and a strange letter tell her that her kid is in Paradise. On that very thin evidence and on her women's intuition Kathy Baker investigates with silent approval from Selleck. By the way Manheim's one scene with Selleck and Baker is unbelievably moving.But it was the side issue that grabbed me. The town council is having a hissy fit over Selleck doing a little moonlighting with McHattie. His chief critic on the council Jeremy Akerman who after unsuccessfully trying to get Selleck to hire his nephew makes it clear that his chief function as police is to nail those speeders at the local trap and generate some revenue. Selleck who worked homicide in the LAPD really thinks it beneath him. Not to mention that those murders from previous Jesse Stone stories are giving Paradise a bad name which could affect the tourist trade.Contrast that with Cabot Cove and how they treat Jessica Fletcher and think of all the murders she solved in Murder She Wrote's long run. The residents there certainly never thought of firing Tom Bosley or Ron Masak and certainly weren't about to tar and feather their most famous resident. Cabot Cove in fact had to be the murder capital of the United States. Paradise has a long way to go.I think it's the provincial attitudes of some of the people you will take away when you watch Thin Ice.

This is the fifth Jesse Stone movie. He is on an apparent stake out with the state's homicide captain in some sleazy Boston suburb. Out of the fog a shadowy image appears and shoots both of them. This person then comes up to give the coupe de grace but Jesse is still conscious and pulls his weapon. He shoots at the perp and seems to hit him. The captain is in the ICU in a coma and Jesse is able to walk around. William Devane reprises his role as an ex-cop and drunk turned shrink. He and Jesse have some interesting confabs about more than just Jesse's problem's. Kathy Baker plays a rusty deputy returned to service while Molly is out pregnant. There is the search for a long time missing, thought dead boy. A letter from Paradise leads the still looking mother to Jesse. Through some luck and good cop work they find that the boy had actually lived in Paradise until he died while skating. The town council is out to get Jesse since he does things his way and not theirs, but they will not come out and fire him. Old Suitcase is freaky now that he is out of his coma from the last movie. He comes out with random thoughts and ideas that are pertinent to what is being discussed at the moment. There is quite a bit more but watch the movie if you like cop detective films. This is pretty good.

In addition to the problems stated in previous reviews, some of the dialog seems stripped (in its exact form) from previous episodes. Old characters that once provided meaning and added to mood now just seem like familiar on-screen forms. What was spare and inviting the first time around just seems lazy now. I think what is missing is a compelling story.And I really miss Molly.I like the characters and the setting so much that I was willing to watch Thin Ice but I would not have been encouraged to watch other episodes had this been my first contact with the series.

While I do agree with this being the least of the series, I enjoyed the episode. However, my wife (who would leave me for Tom if he asked, I'm not kidding) didn't like it.As an example of our tastes, I loved Clint Eastwoods "Unforgiven" because the distinction between bad and good wasn't clear. My wife did not like "Unforgiven" because the distinction between bad and good wasn't clear.I think the story line was needed or the series would have fallen way to far into a formula driven format. That's why I think it would destroy the series if it was a week to week show. This episode must set up at least one or two more stories.I look forward to them.