The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds... It Leads

The Rockford movies in the Nineties were familiar and unchallenged, kind of like drinking a warm cup of cocoa. While Jim is more cranky than charming, Dennis is as put-upon as ever, Angel remains Angel and the Firebird's always getting dinged.

The first four were entertaining, but there's a real drop-off in quality after "Godfather Knows Best." I think that's when they stopped caring and just took the money. The movies also seemed to get darker and more violent. The last one, "If It Bleeds, It Leads" is actually a lousy way to wrap up the series. I remember hearing that it was the last one and had sat on a shelf for a year or two. When I saw it, I knew why. It's awful and depressing. Stay with the earlier TV movies if you need a Rockford Nineties fix.

This was the last movie of the series, I believe that there are two additional ones that were never shown. It is sort of a close out, a lot of the old cast appears in it. At this point James Garner said he was getting too old, one foot chase shows him hobbling out of the pickup, I guess he was too old for the Firebird at this point, to catch the bad guy. As a fan, I appreciated the series being tied in with the movies, and should be the model for Hollywood to follow. If there ever was a Rockford big screen movie made and if it was soon, perhaps James Garner could play Rocky.

Of the six movies that were shown I would recommend all of them, particularly I Love LA, which was the first and the highest rated.

Okay. Right up front, I was basically done with Rita Moreno's character after her first appearance in the series. In this TV movie, she was just tiring.

Yes, the mood was indeed a somber one with this entry. Nevertheless, I did find myself enjoying it (and it was great to see Beth again!).

I bought the DVD box set of the series and the TV movies. Having read the reviews of this movie, I decided to watch all of the movies in reverse order. I thought it would be best to get this one out of the way as quickly as possible., However, I did find this one to be better than expected. At least I had no trouble hanging with it, and yes, ultimately enjoying it.

But oh my, the ending was not something I would ever associate with a Rockford entry.

More serious than you would expect from a "Rockford Files" movie, this is a sometimes powerful if heavy-handed attack on the media and the way in which it covers "juicy" stories. While there isn't much of a mystery here, the excellent cast--particularly Hal Linden--makes the movie very watchable. This sat on the shelf for two years before CBS finally aired it, and the plot closely shadows the real-life case of Richard Jewell, who was unfairly accused in the press of the Atlanta Olympic Park bombings.

I'll take my Rockford any way I can get him, so I was thrilled when these TV movies came out. This one, however, is not in the usual lighthearted Rockford style. It's pretty heavy.

Rita (Rita Moreno) is back with her husband (Hal Linden) who is a teacher. When he's accused of child molestation because of his resemblance to a police sketch, he is put on suspension. This devastates him completely. Rita appeals to both Rockford and Beth (Gretchen Corbett) to help him.

A serious story about how the media can destroy a man - similar to the Richard Jewell case. Apparently it was filmed in 1997, probably i response to that, but wasn't released until 1999.

James Garner by this time had some trouble walking at times, due to the fact that he always did his own stunts and the series nearly killed him. And good for him, it doesn't look like he had plastic surgery. He's always good, always watchable, always adorable.

Angel was particularly bad news in this episode. All the performances were marvelous. Rita Moreno looked gorgeous and what fun earrings she wore.

All in all, well worth seeing, but don't expect a lot of humor. The '70s were over.