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.
