User reviews

Robert Parker, like novelist Georges Simenon, was a master of his craft. Both men knew how to say just enough, and no more, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks. Parker's books are really acts of collaboration between writer and reader. It is rare for a film to capture the spirit of the book it sprang from, and rarer still for the film to be faithful to the writer's method. The Jesse Stone films are the wonderful exception. They are true to the books, and faithful to Parker's lean, spare style. Less is always more, like a Japanese line drawing. These films are beautifully crafted little gems. High marks to all who had a hand in their production.

A good thriller, just like the rest of the them.

Tom Selleck is great as always.

In this latest installment of the Jesse Stone series, based on a novel by Robert B. Parker, the biggest crime problem for the police chief of Paradise is parking violations. It's a good thing, because dispatcher Rose is being trained to take over for Molly, whose pregnancy is high-risk. And Officer Simpson is in the hospital. And Chief Stone and D'Angelo don't get along.

Stone's ex has a new boyfriend, and she wants to discontinue her telephone conversations for a while. Stone still doesn't have his drinking problem completely under control, and the townspeople have become aware of it. With temptation quite strong, Stone turns to Dr. Dix.

To give him something interesting to do, Stone reopens a 15-year-old unsolved murder connected with a bank robbery in which the victim was Leeann's sister Rebecca. For years, Leeann has taken care of her mother, who had a stroke after her daughter's death.

But Stone should have waited, because he does get a challenging case. Cathleen Holton says she has been raped. Stone has reason to believe she is lying. Harrison Pendleton is rich, and he owns the schooner where the alleged incident took place. Sybil Martin looks good in a swimsuit and seems to know something. The town council would prefer that the case be kept quiet so tourists will not be discouraged from attending the Fall Regatta.

Several old cases also play a role in the movie.

As with the other movies, some people may find this boring. But Tom Selleck, William Devane and Kathy Baker have strong characters to work with and they give very good performances, so in my opinion the movie is interesting enough with minimal action. Violence is almost nonexistent until the final scenes, though I think the movie would have been fine without what happened at the end.

I think pretty much everyone does a good job here. And both main plot lines are just complicated enough, though neither is developed enough for a full movie. We never know which of the old cases will provide clues to the new ones, and sometimes we have no idea which case a certain event involves. This seems like two separate hour-long episodes, though in the real world police officers would be working on multiple cases.

I was happy with this movie, and I look forward to more of them.

The music in "Sea Change" from 2007 I believe is Brahms piano music, and it's lovely and sets the mood beautifully. As with the last Jesse Stone film I saw, the mood is depression.

I actually am seeing these out of order -- in the other one I saw, Jesse was off the police force. Here he is the Police Chief and talking to his ex-wife on the phone all the time. Afraid of going back to his alcoholic ways, he consults a psychiatrist (William Devane).

He also dives into two cases: an old bank robbery case where a teller was killed, and an alleged rape. The town council isn't crazy about that one because of the tourist trade.

I thought the script was very good, as were the production values. Unlike many on this board, I am not sold on Tom Selleck in this role. Yes, he looks weathered. This is a complicated, multilayered role and I don't see the layers in Selleck. I see him being very serious and looking miserable.

Also, it plays against the qualities that made him a star, a special presence, charm for days, and a flair for comedy. And let's not forget the dimpled smile. Here he's morose. Frankly, it makes the character kind of boring even though he's obviously very smart.

The other major problem for me in this episode was Sean Young, whom I never could stand.

The rest of the cast is very good and top-notch: Kathy Baker, Stephen McHattie, William Devane, and Kohl Sudduth.

I just wish these movies had a little more spark.

Selleck does not get enough credit for this series.

On the one hand this whole series can be dismissed as the efforts of yet one more "older" actor to keep stirring the pot, to stay in the game, and at the same time get to play in his favorite sandbox on the planet (Nova Scotia, standing in for Maine).

But if you dig deeper and consider the series as a whole what you find is remarkable control, and craftsmanship.

The same people appear in every movie, both in front of and behind the camera. Ignoring the regional Canadian accents, they are not bad.

Selleck is brilliant. Stone could be the best work of his career. He has trumped Clint Eastwood in his mastery of the two-word piece of dialog. He stands a fragile but unwavering force for law enforcement. There is minimal violence or action in these entries but they hold interest nonetheless.

And that damn dog with the stoic face steals every scene he is in.

Things have gone from bad to worse in Tom Selleck's relationship with his ex-wife 3000 miles away in California and he's starting to drink again. His counselor William Devane says that work is the best therapy because an active mind won't be thinking about those bad things that led one to alcohol abuse. So there are three cold case homicides on the Paradise police blotter. Selleck picks one involving a teller who was taken during a holdup in 1992 and whose body was found in 1994.

The bank that was held up was the one Saul Rubinek was the president of and who on the Paradise Town Council was Selleck's biggest booster. Later on in another film Rubinek is arrested when he's found laundering money for the mob in his little small town bank. Selleck in fact goes to prison to visit Rubinek for information.

He also visits the victim's family and talks to her sister Rebecca Pidgeon in his quest for justice. That looks like it could get personal as well. She's taking care of her mother who is a stroke patient and needs a lot of care.

The second case is a young girl who was raped while on board a millionaire's schooner that is in the town harbor.

Ironically there's a lot of sadness tied to both cases and Selleck does what he can control his own desire to drown his own sorrows with what he uncovers.

Even though I kind of guessed the solution of the robbery this film was still well done and acted superbly by the ensemble.

The Jesse Stone movies are definitely among the best of made-for-television movies out there. "Night Passage" and "Death in Paradise" were both wonderful mystery movies and "Sea Change" is right up there on top with them. Here, Police Chief Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) is trying to solve two cases at once. Both of which are not connected to one another. The town councilmen say he should try to solve a rape case, his mind tells him he should try to solve a murder case that occurred in Paradise fifteen years ago.

Tom Selleck was born to play Jesse Stone. He has the overall weathered-down appearance for a cop who has gone through a lot of miseries and personal problems with life and continues to go through them. His voice and mannerism also has the laconic tone suitable for Jesse Stone that enhances the believability of his performance. Performances by the rest of the cast was very good and the show went to reintroduce some characters that had not been seen since the second movie "Night Passage".

Like the others before it, "Sea Change" is a powerful mystery-drama. It appropriately keeps us guessing along with Stone until the end and just as I wanted to happen, something occurred in the movie that was both expected and unexpected at the same time. I will not give any hints as to what does happen or when it happens, for I don't want to ruin the surprise for anybody who hasn't seen this amazing television movie.

The fourth film in the Jesse Stone franchise, but it was based on the fifth book by Robert B. Parker that follows right after the 'Stone Cold'. Initially I thought only the first two films were not in the order, but now it looks the entire film series was so random adaptation. Anyway, if the connections between the films are proper, then there won't be any complication to follow the series for the viewers.

I liked the third film a lot, but I'm not in the same mood after watching this. It is still a good film, yet compared to the previous one, no way near to that standard. Now Jesse back to alcohol consumption, because he has no case to deal other than giving out the parking tickets. But his psychiatrist advises him to get engaged in something so he can be sober again. That's where Jesse decides to dig on an old unsolved case. It literally takes us to the early 90s when a bank in the town was robbed.

Jesse and Co finds some new evidence after visiting the 15 year old crime scene and try to put all the puzzle pieces together. Even he visits victim's parents in a surround town. Besides that, he also manages to handle a rape case. With all this, where the narration heads and how the film ends was told in the final act. This is a very important phase in the series, where some viewers would lose interest and some would be intrigued to keep going.

I think the first two acts were good, moved on the right path and then in the final segment, especially after learning where it is headed, I kind of lost interest. But overall film was good and I won't attack to degrade it. Because still many more films to come and it has time to recover, particularly my expectation is high for the next one. So this film was kind of fallen short, but the better way to say is it slows down to bring normalcy.

"If you've got nothing to do, find something to do. If it's not important, make it important."

It's good to see Kohl Sudduth back in the action, but after that fatal accident, now he's kind of reborn and the new him feels so weird, sometimes annoying as well. The sad part is Viola Davis having a baby and moved to LA. I think that is the end of her in the series. Her replacement was Kathy Baker and feels much better contributor. Also very appropriate to hang out with Jesse as a co- worker, mainly because of the age factor.

There's no change in Tom Selleck, he as always great in the title role. His ex-wife's phone calls returned, but not annoying as it was in the earlier films. Also like his drinking habit back on the track. I think women are his main issue, especially after the divorce, it seems many women are eager to be a part in his life. But while he's engaged to do his job, they are becoming an unavoidable obstacle. So he has to decide what he needs and his work needs, so he complies with that like in the previous films.

Should all the cop films must have a gun battle to prove it is a violent affair. This one has one at the very end, a surprise addition to end on the strong note. So someone dies here and the reason is very loud and clear. Jesse also goes down in one particular scene, which is very unusual to witness. Because a tough guy like him always pays good attention about happenings around him. Well written and directed with good performances. It maintained the stability in the series, but not the best film.

Anyway, I liked the twist, but it was not stunning kind. Besides, Jesse's decision to close the case like as he wanted was a negative appeal. But thinking from the other side, it kind of justifies, only for the film, not in reality. You won't always expect moral stories, maybe that's the point here. I don't understand having a dog in the house and it does nothing. Reggie looked so depressed, and why it was portrayed that way is not clear. Particularly what happened in the scene before the credits roll brings doubt on Reggie as part of the film. I hope he gets better in the follow-up films.

This film has some quantity of suspense, so you will be attached to it to know how it all concludes. The revelation is not good enough, particularly I was not satisfied, but that is the simplicity, not trying to be too smart. As being a part of the Jesse Stone series, it can be very much acceptable knowing the ups and downs are common in a film franchise. The next film as well hold the key to carry-out the rest of the films in the series, so I'm eager to review it once I finished watching. Till then bye.

7/10

If some archaeologist is digging around some 200 years from now and happens upon a copy of this film I only hope he's able to find a DVD player that will play it. Sea Change is that good! And unlike the usual junk passing for cinema these days this movie (and others in the series) displays a range of talent that will speak well of the 21st Century movie industry. Wonderful writing, wonderful directing, wonderful acting, wonderful sound track! But perhaps most impressive of all is the photography. In fact as a professional photographer specializing in landscape stills I was time and time again blown away by the powerful composition of the scenes, the originality of the camera work, the blending of subtle tone and color. As masterful piece of cinema-photography as I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing and memories of the most powerful shots shall inform my own work for years to come.

While some may find the pace plodding and grow impatient, real enjoyment follows for those who focus on the subtleties of character development through facial gestures, incremental relationship growth between characters, and the economical dialogue. All the Jesse Stone movies provide refreshing change from movies relying excessively on frenetic car chases, lengthy foot pursuits, protracted shoot-outs, high body counts, sixteen camera views of the same explosion, badly contrived conflict between partners, and tiring vocabulary abuse (profanity). Watch these in order because there are larger story threads that connect from movie to movie especially concerning the central characters. When you find yourself able to relax and have a story with depth gradually and carefully laid out before you, you'll be in the right frame of mind to enjoy this. As a peripheral character in Sea Change tells Jesse, "listen to Brahms."

You can judge it by this: for the first half-hour of this crime drama, literally nothing happens. It's all Selleck moping around, toying with alcoholism, talking to his ex-wife, talking to his staff, talking to his doctor. Rinse and repeat. Endless shots of sea views and a motionless Irish setter.

Finally, he and a helper take a long chatty walk into a deserted area where he digs up some old clothes - using shovels that magically appear! It's unbelievable.

This careless and even arrogant disregard for actual film-making appears often. Endless slow scenes for "Acting"; silly plot devices; and continuity mistakes. It's clear that nobody worried much about the result.

If you want an art film that takes itself much more seriously than an audience will, this might be it.

Tom Sellewck, (Chief Jesse Stone) assumes the role as Police Chief in a small local town in Mass. and finds himself getting bored with talking to his ex-wife and drinking a entire bottle of scotch during the evening while his companion, the dog keeps him company and watches every move Jesse makes. Jesse gets himself involved with a Cold Case of a woman who was killed during a robbery in 1992 and finds out there was a great deal of money involved with this robbery and some big time mob bosses were laundering money. While this investigation is going on, Jesse solves a rape case that happened to a young girl on a schooner in the harbor. There are many twists and turns to this film and it will keep you guessing right to the very end of the film. Great entertaining film with a cast of great actors.

This is like all the other Jesse Stone movies. Live paced with real live drama. No sugar coating but it keeps your interest up and you can see yourself as Jesse so you pull for him and want to put him in time out other times. This is the type cop I would want to be if I had taken that path. My wife and I enjoy them all and rewatch a lot. So get a snack and put up your feet to be another you to solve a crime. Protect the weak. I wish Tom makes a dozen more of these movies. It's honesty and rare. Glad I found the series. Thank you.

I have liked every Jesse Stone "movie" I have seen! Today Hallmark is re-broadcasting all six, including the most recent, which I have not seen. Unfortunately they are are in the order of the time/year they were broadcast instead of the chronological order of the books/events. Very confusing! And I wonder how much of the "movies" are being cut. The first episode; Sea Change; at noon EST not only had commercials, they essentially had infomercials. Unfortunately infomercials are everywhere disguised as regular commercials. Some 30 minute shows go 36 minutes occasionally and I hope that's so they can include more commercials in order to see the "real" full length episode, but on some blogs I've read where it's not even the case when they are given extra time. I watch Encore West for Gunsmoke and their episodes are commercial free for 25 minutes followed by 5 minutes of commercials for Encore West. I'm still not sure whether these episodes are not edited.

I approached this film with an open mind and was looking forward to it. As the film progressed and passed the one-hour mark, I honestly have to say that this is one of the most boring, uninteresting and slow moving films I've ever seen. For the last 20 minutes I was just praying for it to end.

Tom Selleck is bland and completely uninteresting, and his character speaks entirely in "clever quips", ALL the time, which really grinds after a while. Although Selleck is bad, he still delivers the best performance in this film, because the other actors are so incredibly bad -- perhaps with the exception of Nigel Bennet who plays Harrison Pendelton who's good, but unfortunately only on screen for about a minute throughout the whole film.

The story is not exactly predictable, but written to a safe recipe of "crime mysteries" which stirs up no real interest - in me, anyway. Overall I found this an exceptionally drab experience and I wish I had spent the hour and a half doing something else.

The other review "Being a longtime mystery lover, but never having read Robert B. Parker or seen a Jesse Stone movie, I really looked forward to watching Sea Change. But it was almost a complete disappointment. First, the principal characters have been given colorful histories or eccentricities seemingly only to keep them from being completely uninteresting otherwise or to fill time (for example, Luthor's post-coma extrasensory power). Why does anyone have his or her peculiarities? Dude please you have never read Robert B Parker and you a mystery lover. Get off with more jokes. To claim and be a mystery lover and not have read Robert Parker is like being a Christian and not reading the Bible. You comments. The beauty of parker is the eccentricities of the characters.

This is a great movie listen to someone who really reads and loves mystery books not this guy. Watch this movie and watch the entire series they are excellent but for the intelligent viewer only. Much goes on so unlike action movies to really enjoy you must watch the movie. Not boring ,,, just the opposite excellent. jp

The Jesse Stone films starring Tom Selleck as a weathered police chief battling alcoholism after his divorce are a good fit for Selleck in these run of made for television films.

In Sea Change Stone is trying to solve two cases at once in the small New England town. One is an alleged rape case of an 18 year old in a yacht, the other is a unsolved murder case of a bank teller from the past. Stone and his therapist hope that investigating these cases would keep his mind of the drink as he keeps himself busy and occupied.

The film has a good strong cast with Kathy Baker and Viola Davis. They are joined here by William Sadler and Sean Young but despite the cast and Selleck's efforts, its a run of the mill television film. The plot is humdrum and some of the better actors deserve a better script.

I found Sea Change (2007) much more enjoyable than Death In Paradise (2006). Here we see Jesse and his police force short staffed with "suitcase" in the hospital and noticeably less screen time of Molly Crane (maternity leave). Slow days handing out traffic violations are difficult for the alcoholic police chief, so he decides to look into some cold cases to keep busy while also investigating a rape case.

👍 An appearance from Sean Young. She is entertaining as always. 👍 Return of a couple characters that haven't been seen since Night Passage (2006). 👍 First series appearance of Rose (Kathy Baker). 👎 Not much of Molly (Viola Davis). 👎 Not much of DeAngelo (Vito Rezza).

I don't expect much from Tom Selleck movies, but this one was far below my worst expectations. The writers should be banned from the film industry and the directors fired. The dog was the only good actor and the film crew constantly focused on him due to the stink of the script. The filming, annoying music, poor acting and absolutely horribly written script make the viewer want to terminate the film at every change of scene. This film deserves zero stars and if possible negative stars. It is a total waste of the viewers life and should be avoided unless you are committing suicide and want a really good reason to do it.