The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play

Just catching up with these later Rockford Files TV movies, after seeing the entire original series (again) from start to finish. They're a reasonable panacea for "Rockford withdrawal."

The plot of this one is interesting, but the storyline is a little far-fetched. Jim's nemesis Captain Doug Chapman is doing something that would violate all sorts of departmental protocols, not to mention drive the district attorney into a tizzy. So we'll just suspend disbelief.

Great to see Marcia Strassman (the former "Mrs. Kotter" from the '70s sitcom), in a smart, snappy role. It's also interesting to see the regulars from the original series nearly 20 years on. Both Beth and Dennis have apparently had their teeth capped, and Chapman seems to be sporting a hairpiece now. And then there's Angel - if you disliked him in the original series, that dislike will continue. A necessary evil to move the story along, just as before.

In the end, the character of Jim Rockford is a mellowed version of his earlier self, which is to be expected. The smart-aleck quips are still gold, he still lives in a trailer right next to the shore (though upgraded to a double-wide), and he's still driving the Firebird. He also has a pickup truck, which I imagine was Rocky's, though a much newer model (in contrast to the Firebird). I would imagine that's a sentimental connection to his father, which he keeps driving as some sort of tribute. It's not really explained, but that's the impression I get.

Worth watching for TRF fans; just don't expect the same exact vibe as the original series.

Rockford's friend from the Sandcastle, Babs, is investigating the murder, 18 monthes earlier. She suspects a local mobster and is harassing him to get him to make a mistake that she can tell the police about. Unfortunately the mistake he makes is killing her when Jim Rockford is on the job. As usual a group of friends collects to help solve the crime, and Jim signs up for Lt. Chapman's class on criminology to get the inside track on the investigation, and becomes the class cut-up.

If not an actual sly spoof, was this meant to be some sort of dark 'send up' of either the series itself, the genre or even America, albeit in keeping with Garner's most liked/successful screen persona from the original 'Maverick' TV westerns on to the original 'Rockford' series ? (Perhaps Garner never made the top tier of 'action' or 'tough guy' actors with his pals Eastwood & Willis because his humorous and gentlemanly streak/side/leanings do not quite fit the taste of filmgoing America) Otherwise, unless US civilisation was actually even sicker or weirder in the 90s than suggested by CNN, this episode/movie featuring a pill-popping black-belt gang boss, psycho sex- and crime- crazed kids, an unwordly saint and wacko cops was just too far overboard or 'over the top' and did not capture the original series premise or magic as straight detective drama with (sometimes cynical) humour; at least one crime scene was needlessly graphic too.

This (presumably absurd) episode disappointed and did not entertain this nonAmerican fan of the original 70s series