Francine Locke – Through the Shattered Lens

2013’s In Gramps’ Shoes opens with Ty (Donald James Parker) praying that his daughter, Amy (Francine Locke), will finally call him. It’s been 20 years since they last spoke. Amy felt that Ty — or “Gramps” as he’s eventually known — was too controlling when she was growing up. He didn’t approve of her music. He didn’t approve of the man she married. When she left home, she went to Tennessee and promised herself that she would never look back.

However, Amy is now in some trouble. Her husband has left her. Her teenage son, Scott (Andrew Wilson Williams), is a slacker who smokes on the porch with his loser friends and who refuses to even consider getting a part-time job to help pay the bills. Her daughter, Sally (Brittany Blades), is a bit more responsible but she’s been reading Harry Potter and that could lead to her becoming a witch. Amy is also nearly broke. She finally swallows her pride and calls Gramps to ask for help.

Soon, Gramps has moved down to Tennessee. At first, Scott and his friends are dismissive of Gramps. But then they watch as Gramps beats Scott in a two-mile race. They watch as Gramps does pull-ups at a local park. They all marvel at how athletic Gramps is. Scott decides that he wants to run just like Gramps. But first, Scott is going to have to work on his attitude and start going to church….

This film has a lot of problems, from the poor ADR to the bad acting to the script that allows certain scenes to drag on without end. This film is nearly two hours long and you will definitely feel every one of those 115 minutes. Even the running scenes are a bit disappointing because no one really looks like they’re in good enough condition to be a track star. Everyone in the film talks about how good Gramps looks but Gramps actually spends the majority of the film looking like he might collapse at any moment.

The main problem with the film is Gramps is a kind of a jerk. From the minute he shows up in Tennessee, he’s giving orders and we can tell why his daughter thought he was too controlling. He moves in and immediately starts to tell Amy how to raise her son. Because Gramps goes to church, he demands that his grandchildren come with him. (Keep in mind, he doesn’t ask them to go to a church. He tells them that they have to come to his church.) He makes it clear that his grandchildren won’t be watching anything fantasy-related (like a Harry Potter movie) as long as he’s around. Gramps isn’t just opinionated. Instead, he comes across as being angry and rather aggressive. And yet, everyone just loves to be around him.

In this film, Parker appears to be playing the same character that he played in Gramps Goes To College. However, there’s a plot development that makes it impossible for this to be a prequel to Gamps Goes To College. At the same time, Gramps first gets his nickname in this film which means that Gramps Goes To College also couldn’t be considered a sequel. It’s not the film’s biggest problem but it is something that bothers a continuity nerd like me.

Despite all of those problems, this film does end with a priceless final line. Is Scott going to go prom with his new girlfriend? Actually, Scott might “lead a protest against Harry Potter …. because it’s what Gramps would have wanted.” The film is almost worth watching just to hear that one line.

Almost.

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing Crime Story, which ran on NBC from 1986 to 1988. The entire show can be found on Tubi!

This week, Luca has to prove himself.

Episode 1.5 “The War”

(Dir by Leon Ichaso, originally aired on October 7th, 1986)

Luca is in trouble.

Last week’s episode ended with Max Goldman on the receiving end of a beating from Noah Ganz’s goons. Goldman survives and returns with a message. Ganz is not happy that Luca tried to steal his book. Bartoli, Weisbord, and Fosse all inform Luca will have to resolve the Ganz situation on his own.

Luca tries to get public defender David Abrams (Stephen Lang) to act as a negotiator for him but David doesn’t want to get involved in the mobster lifestyle that made his father rich. David just wants to defend the poor and play sax in a jazz club. When Luca is attacked while driving in Chicago, he realizes that negotiating with Ganz is a dead end.

Instead, he just kills Ganz. In a bravura sequence, Luca shows up at a hotel and, with the help of sniper, takes down Ganz’s bodyguards. Then he uses a bomb to take out Ganz while the latter is holding court in an elevator. A plume of white smoke puffs out of the hotel’s exhaust vent.

Having taken care of the issue, Luca is welcomed back into the family. Weisbord says, “Call me Mac.” Fosse (played by Michael Madsen) nods and slowly smokes a cigarette.

Meanwhile, Torello’s wife miscarries. This is the episode that features the clip of Torello walking down a lonely Chicago street on a rainy night. (The clip is prominently featured during the show’s opening credits.) In fact, both Torello and Luca end up spending a good deal of time walking around at night while David Abrams plays his saxophone. It’s a scene that is so overstylized that it shouldn’t work but somehow, it does. If nothing else, it reminds us that Crime Story of two dangerously obsessed men on a collision course.

This was a good episode, if just because it showed that Luca can be a clever criminal when he needs to be. Before this episode, Luca seemed to be clearly outmatched by Torello. With this episode, Luca proved himself to be Torello’s equal.