Robert B. Parker’s Stone Cold

Directed by Robert Harmon, Robert B. Parker’s Stone Cold follows Massachusetts police chief Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) as he investigates a series of murders with a similar M.O. It’s familiar subject matter that’s employed to watchable yet unspectacular effect by Harmon, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by John Fasano and Michael Brandman, delivers a fairly generic police procedural that’s elevated by its agreeable small-town atmosphere and commanding central performance – with, in terms of the latter, Selleck’s loose, engaging turn going a long way towards livening up the mostly middling narrative. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that the movie’s supporting cast boasts appearances by such top-notch players as Jane Adams, Mimi Rogers, and Viola Davis.) And although it runs less than 90 minutes, Robert B. Parker’s Stone Cold does progress into a second half that drags to a fairly palpable extent – with the relatively compelling nature of the two main storylines, including a case involving a raped teenager, generally stirring enough to sustain one’s waning interest. The end result is a decent-enough adaptation that certainly feels perfectly at home on the small screen, and it’s difficult to envision the picture working quite as well as it ultimately does were it not for Selleck’s participation.

**1/2 out of ****