The Rockford Files: Shoot-Out at the Golden Pagoda

Jim Garner appears to have realised that he is most fondly remembered for Maverick and The Rockford Files; being a bit old for frontier fun, he's regressed to his detective incarnation, which debuted in a 1974 TV movie. In this, the seventh in a recent spate of Rockford TV movies, he helps a chum investigate two shady cops suspected of vice offences. One imagines he might have a mobile phone now, so you don't have to leave him a message.

There's something comfortable about these Rockford movies - they keep the spirit of the old Rockford Files series and make for fun watching. "Murders and Misdemeanors" aka Shootout at the Golden Pagoda lines up the usual suspects - Rockford, Angel, and Dennis - for a case involving the possible misbehavior of two cops. Jim, believing his friend Booker (John Amos) to be a dying man, takes his case load, not realizing that one of them involves the police. It makes him persona non grata at the department and a definite target for tickets. Meanwhile, Angel is shopping a film of Jim's life, giving out Jim's phone number and a restaurant phone number and asking to speak to people like Scorcese and Mel Gibson, telling Sly Stallone's people it's the kind of action film Sly will love.

It's all highly entertaining. The Rockford Files is one of my favorite all-time series; these TV movies capture the series' wit and energy and remind us that time, indeed, marches on.

Let's face it -- the 15-year downtime between the end of "Rockford" and the first TV movie did no one any favors.

James Garner was approaching 70, and could no longer perform his trademark action scenes, nor was he particularly believable as a guy who could be a force with his fists.

Noah Beery passed away, and could no longer play "Rocky", and the character was written off the show as dead, as well.

Perhaps most importantly, the writing somewhat degraded. Perhaps it was from the writers aging themselves, or perhaps it was simply rust from not having worked on the series in 15 years, but there is near universal agreement that these movies are not as good as the original Rockford series.

However, once you grew attached to the series characters, it was hard not to like anything new we could see them doing after so many years.

This was the most enjoyable of the eight TV movies. It had the classic Rockford Files elements of shifty characters trying to further their interests at Jim's expense (and not just Angel), a difficult and uncooperative police department (including Becker), an element of mystery, an attractive leading lady, and even some humor.

This one came the closest to capturing the original "Rockford" spirit.

The show also touched upon an element in most of our lives that we rarely think about, and which is rarely depicted on TV: The neglected friend. You know the one I'm talking about -- the friend you like and enjoy spending time with, but for whatever reason, always seems to end up last priority in your life. While not a major plot point, this little side story ended up being surprisingly touching, and quite believable.

Don't expect to be "wowed" by this TV movie. It's not as good as the better Rockford series episodes, but if you want to find the '90s Rockford movie with the most similarity to the original, this is it.

I'm not sure that a shorter running time would have helped this one......but I found myself thinking that it needed to be cut and cut again. Perhaps something around 75 minutes (like the Colombo episodes). I lost interest in this one quickly.

The humor seemed to be in excess on this episode, and I got tired of that too. Don't get me wrong: I've always enjoyed the Rockford series for its humor. But on this movie, it seemed forced and stupid.

Just too long and uninteresting for me.