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Some of the greatest recent films in the crime genre are the Jesse Stone movies. Tom Selleck plays the lead role, and the film chronicles his adventures as he investigates murders in the fictional town of Paradise, Massachusetts.
As clinical as the films are, they also provide a rich and nuanced examination of human complexities and the mysterious aspect of the nature of humanity. The Jesse Stone films, to provide just one example, are exciting criminal dramas with plenty of unexpected turns.
The narrative of Jesse Stone’s movies is interconnected with that of the others. Besides that, the films are identical in terms of narrative and characters. To get the most out of the story, you need to view all of Jesse Stone’s films in a certain order. We’ll explain the best way to view the Jesse Stone films.
Here are the Jesse Stone movies in order:
- Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006)
- Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (2005)
- Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
- Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)
- Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
- Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
- Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
- Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
- Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)
For more details on the released films and how to watch them, see below.
1. Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Tom Selleck, Stephen Baldwin, Stephanie March (Actors)
- Robert Harmon (Director) - Robert B. Parker (Writer) - Steven J. Brandman (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Based on Night Passage by Robert B. Parker
Cast: Tom Selleck, Saul Rubinek, Viola Davis
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Runtime: 1h 30m
Genre: Crime, Drama
Jesse Stone: Night Passage is a minor timeline glitch in an otherwise mostly chronological film series about the life of Jesse Stone. Night Passage was the second film to be released. However, it is logically the first part of the franchise.
Adapted from the first book in Parker’s trilogy, Night Passage follows Stone as he relocates from Los Angeles to Paradise, Massachusetts, after being fired from his job as a homicide detective for drinking on the job. The corrupt council leader’s assumption that Stone’s drinking problem will make him easy to handle continues his money-laundering operations. Stone is immediately employed as Paradise’s head of police.
He is, however, incorrect. Stone gets involved with the seedy underworld of local criminals who have shady ties to the Boston mafia after the corpse of the former police chief, who was driven out of the post after discovering more about conspiracy, is discovered.
The characters in “Night Passage” develop into likable people throughout the story. Tom Selleck, Saul Rubinek, and Viola Davis, among others, do a fantastic job bringing these characters to life.
2. Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (2005)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Tom Selleck, Jane Adams, Reg Rogers (Actors)
- Robert Harmon (Director) - John Fasano (Writer) - Michael Brandman (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Based on Stone Cold by Robert B. Parker
Cast: Tom Selleck, Jane Adams, Reg Rogers
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Runtime: 1h 26m
Genre: Crime, Drama
Tom Selleck starred in “Jesse Stone: Stone Cold,” a 2005 film directed by Robert Harmon.
Storyline-wise, “Stone Cold” follows Jesse Stone, the head of police in a sleepy town, looking into a young lady’s death. As much as his supervisors try to dissuade him, Jesse is set on solving the murder and seeing justice served.
You’ll be on the edge of your seat throughout “Jesse Stone: Stone Cold,” an intense and suspenseful picture.
Tom Selleck, Jane Adams, and Reg Rogers are just a few of the fantastic actors in this picture. Stone Cold, the first film in the Jesse Stone series, may be enjoyed on its own or as part of the larger canon.
3. Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Tom Selleck, Viola Davis, Vito Rezza (Actors)
- Robert Harmon (Director) - Michael Brandman (Writer) - Tom Selleck (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Based on Death in Paradise by Robert B. Parker
Cast: Tom Selleck, Viola Davis, Kohl Sudduth
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Runtime: 1h 28m
Genre: Crime, Drama
The second case Stone takes on is the death of a young woman whose body was found in a lake. A postmortem finds that she was expecting and dead from a combination of alcohol and muscle relaxant. The victim was identified as Billie Bishop, a high-school student whose family sent her out when her behavior deteriorated, and her scores plummeted, is identified by an initialed ring discovered on the body, which leads Stone and his colleague Luther Simpson (Kohl Sudduth) to investigate more.
The inquiry concludes that Billie was acquainted with affluent local author Norman Shaw, a guy with rumored links to the seedy underworld who had been writing a book on Boston mobster Leo Finn. As he explores further, he encounters fearsome foes who will stop at nothing to prevent him from revealing the truth.
The suspenseful thriller “Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise” is full of unexpected turns. It’s also an excellent examination of a man’s inner turmoil via the lens of his investigation into a criminal case.
4. Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Gil Anderson, Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker (Actors)
- Robert Harmon (Director) - Robert B. Parker (Writer) - Steven Brandman (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Based on Sea Change by Robert B. Parker
Cast: Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Runtime: 1h 28m
Genre: Crime, Drama
The plot of this film, adapted from Robert B. Parker’s novel Sea Change published in 2006, continues from where the last film left off, with Jesse attempting to overcome his alcoholism. Jesse Stone’s “Sea Change” continues with a thrilling fourth installment that lives up to the preceding three.
He urges his new partner Rose Gammon (Kathy Baker), to obtain the list of the area’s cold cases after Stone admits to his doctor that he drank more excessively when he has no case to focus on. Ever since the incidents of Death in Paradise, Davis’s character, Officer Crane, has quit and been replaced by Gammon.
He then makes up his mind to look into the 1992 death of a bank teller who had been held hostage during a heist.
While investigating the scene where the victim was discovered, the police find what appear to be the shooter’s garments splattered in markings compatible with a bullet wound, providing further evidence that this case is much more convoluted than initially thought.
A thrilling mystery, “Jesse Stone: Sea Change,” will have you guessing right up to the final frame.
5. Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Gil Anderson, Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker (Actors)
- Robert Harmon (Director) - Michael Brandman (Writer) - Steven J. Brandman (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Ronni Kern
Cast: Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Runtime: 1h 25m
Genre: Crime, Drama
In the opening scene of Thin Ice, Stone supports his State Police captain Healy (Stephen McHattie), who has been ambushed while tracking his nephew, who Healy suspects is having an affair with his sax instructor.
Stone begins looking into the incident, which doesn’t sit nicely with the local authority since they ask why he doesn’t devote more time handling expensive traffic citations and driving penalties.
Stone receives a request from a mother who wants him to investigate the vanishing of her baby seven years earlier as he continues to work on the case against their desires. An anonymous message declaring “your child is loved” was found alongside a body, but she was never sure it was her child.
Stone feels bad for her, but he chooses against helping her since he believes that reopening this cold case will only enrage the council even more. But Gammon is bound and determined to find out the truth.
The picture came out two years after the latest installment of the Stone Movies series. And yet, “Thin Ice” was a hit, winning awards from the American and Canadian Societies of Cinematographers for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography.
6. Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Gil Anderson, Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker (Actors)
- Robert Harmon (Director) - Michael Brandman (Writer) - Steven J. Brandman (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Based on the Jesse Stone novels by Robert B. Parker
Cast: Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Runtime: 1h 25m
Genre: Crime, Drama
The sixth Jesse Stone movie, “No Remorse,” stars the same actor who has played the title role in the past five films. A young guy is shot and killed in a parking garage at night, setting the film’s events in motion.
Stone has been sidelined from his employment as chief of police in Paradise and is prohibited from making contact with his coworkers, making Gammon and Healy concerned about Stone’s heavy drinking. Following a string of homicides in a Boston parking lot, police recruit Stone to serve as a private expert.
Stone investigates multiple robberies at a small convenience shop while he’s not busy with a case in Boston. When Jesse’s inquiry brings him to infamous crime leader Gino Fish, the situation quickly turns perilous.
The film is nothing less than an exhilarating trip, full of unexpected turns and surprises as Jesse Stone uses his career to escape his struggles with alcohol and women. No Remorse is definitely worth watching if you’re a fan of Jesse Stone movies.
7. Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Gil Anderson, Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker (Actors)
- Dick Lowry (Director) - Michael Brandman (Writer) - Steven J. Brandman (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Based on the Jesse Stone novels by Robert B. Parker
Cast: Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth
IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
Runtime: 1h 30m
Genre: Crime, Drama
The screenplay for “Innocents Lost” was penned by Selleck and Michael Brandman. The alcoholic and jobless Jesse Stone continues his narrative in this part. Upon Jesse’s dismissal, William Butler, the son-in-law of the town council president, assumed the position of chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts.
Although Stone is not formally affiliated with the police, he is nonetheless drawn into two separate murder probes. In one, he investigates the murder of a friend who the new police chief has already ruled on without further investigation. In another, he reunites with his old friend Healy as an expert for the Massachusetts State Police on an armed robbery and murder case in which Healy has hesitations about the main suspect’s culpability.
Jesse Stone, meantime, has to cope with Butler’s expectations that he relinquish his “concealed carry” pistol license to avoid conflict with Rose Gammon. The latter tells him that, under federal law, he is entitled to “concealed carry” for the remainder of his life as long as he is a retired (not terminated) police officer. His difficulties with alcohol and his relationship with his ex-wife persist.
The tension and intrigue of “Innocents Lost” are on par with the other franchise films. The Jesse Stone movies, including this one, are consistently entertaining because of their excellent scripts and direction.
8. Jesse Stone: Benefit of The Doubt (2012)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth (Actors)
- Robert Harmon (Director) - Michael Brandman (Writer) - Steven Brandman (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Based on the Jesse Stone novels by Robert B. Parker
Cast: Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth
IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
Runtime: 1h 29m
Genre: Crime, Drama
The tv movie “Jesse Stone: Benefit of The Doubt” picks off just where “Innocents Lost” left off regarding the story’s progression.
Stone is briefly restored as police chief when Butler and one of his men are murdered in a bizarre police car explosion and Carter Hansen, the town president, reinstates him. Soon after, he realizes that Hathaway, Hansen’s predecessor and a recurring character in a few storylines, seemed to be aware of Hansen’s demise before he was formally informed.
Stone will once again be drawn into the network of local criminals and their organized crime networks after discovering a notation in Butler’s planner that suggests he was involved in political corruption. Unfortunately, he will have to do it on his own, as Gammon and Simpson, two of his former colleagues, have quit the force because they were dissatisfied with Stone’s successor.
Excellent acting and directing complement a thrilling and suspenseful plot that culminates in a twist you won’t see coming. The tension and fun in “Benefit of the Doubt” are on par with the other two films in the series.
9. Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Tom Selleck, William Devane, Leslie Hope (Actors)
- Robert Harmon (Director) - Michael Brandman (Writer) - Steven Brandman (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Last update on 2023-11-13 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Tom Selleck, Michael Brandman
Cast: Tom Selleck, Mackenzie Foy, William Devane, Luke Perry
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Runtime: 1h 29m
Genre: Crime, Drama
“Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise” is the ninth and last installment of the Jesse Stone film series, Jesse (Tom Selleck) is offered a position as a voluntary detective with the Massachusetts State Police Homicide Unit, led by Lt. Sydney Greenstreet.
Stone is back in his old position as police chief, but he once again offers to advise the Massachusetts State Police since the lack of high-profile crimes in Paradise has gotten him uninspired. Many cold cases involving killings in the Boston region have been opened to him, including the one concerning Mavis Davies, the fourth victim of the Boston Ripper. When Stone pays the killer a visit in prison, the killer happily confesses to the first three murders but denies being responsible for the fourth.
Stone is confident in his story, but he has problems persuading Davies’s widower and the officer who apprehended the Ripper, Detective Leary, that the case is more nuanced than they’ve been led to think. While investigating the cold case, Stone meets a distressed 13-year-old who her mother is abusing, and with the aid of Dr. Dix (who also happens to be an ex-cop), he is placed on the proper course.
The plot developments and twists in this film provide an exciting viewing experience. Anyone who liked the other Jesse Stone films will definitely like this one.
Will There Be A Tenth Jesse Stone Film?
That will do it, you should now have a good concept of what the Jesse Stone movies are all about, and most importantly, you should now understand in which sequence to view all nine of the Jesse Stone films.
The Jesse Stone film franchise has produced nine movies, but there has been no word from the producers regarding when they plan to release the tenth installment in the series. Even though the films were only intended to be shown on television, the franchise has received a lot of attention and positive praise.
If you want to add the Jesse Stone series to your collection here are the links to buy the complete film collection on Amazon (DVD/Blu-ray).