Costco Connection - August 2011

relate as much to a perfect person as they will one that they can identify with. I just thought with [Jesse Stone’s] baggage and his willingness to fight against that baggage and everything and be a good cop, I just thought he’s a guy you root for.

“Jesse never loses … I wouldn’t call it his sense of humor—Robert Parker always called it Jesse’s sense of irony… and there is a lot of humor in these movies. Otherwise you’re just simply playing a dark, brooding guy who’s feeling sorry for himself, and Jesse does not feel sorry for himself. He may think a lot and spend too much time alone, and he has some issues, but the reason you root for him is he isn’t prone to self-pity. He’s prone to fight against it.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 61

In good company

Although Selleck is not averse to taking credit for his accomplishments with the films, he is quick to acknowledge that the quality of the films is a testament to the work of everyone involved, especially the cast.

“Jesse is a very reactive character. He
doesn’t say much,” Selleck explains. “So you
need very strong actors or the scenes won’t
play. We are very fortunate that there’s a scar-
city of character-driven movies and a chance
for actors to really do good work. The kind of
work they love to do. Because we can’t afford
this cast.”
Selleck surrounds himself with quality
character actors, such as Stephen McHattie,
Kathy Baker, William Devane, William Sadler
and Saul Rubinek, among others.

“We write scripts with them in mind,”
Selleck says. “If somebody’s good in our show,
and Jesse doesn’t kill ’em, you’ll probably see
them again.”
When it comes to the DVDs, Selleck is
every bit the executive producer as salesman.
“We don’t just reproduce the television show
on the DVDs. They’re really more of a direc-
tor’s cut,” he explains. “We get rid of all the cuts
to black for commercial breaks and tell the
story all the way through. And it’s made in the
wide-screen format that’s so good for high-def.
So the audience is really getting something dif-
ferent. We think they’re well-told stories and
they move very fast for audiences.” C

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The Costco Connection Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost, as well as other films in the series, is available in all Costco warehouses. DVD/Blu-ray movie releases for August also include: Rio, Mars Needs Moms, Arthur, Soul Surfer, Prom, Tyler Perry Madea’s Big Happy Family and a limited-edition Blu-ray release of the 1998 cult classic The Big Lebowski (see “What’s New” on page 85).