Greetings,
And now for Commish movie number two, Father Image. I'm going to say something right off the bat. Of the three movies, I think this one is, by far, the most entertaining. Is it the best where other things are concerned? Maybe, maybe not. I honestly can't decide. I would say that it's also the most interesting based on a few things, which I will get to, but a lot of it has to do with the plot. Or plots, I should say. As I've said, the show would normally have a main plot and at least one subplot. Here, it kind of has two main plots that intertwine into one, very well, as a matter of fact. So, we can go back and forth between the two, but see that they are still holding hands. Now let's get started.
The movie starts at a fundraiser dinner for the current mayor, Louise Hinton, played by Linda Darlow, and it is being attended by people who paid a thousand bucks to be there. Also, Tony and Rachel. I bet they got in for free. Anyway, Mayor Hinton was actually a recurring character on the show. She was always on the side of The Commish, wanting him to do whatever he could to catch the bad guy du jour, but she got a bit pushy sometimes. This was mostly because, whilst she did want the bad guys caught, she knew that if Tony failed, it would reflect on her. And here, we are on the brink of an election, wherein Hinton is facing a younger, charismatic, male opponent. This comes in to play a bit, but later.
Anyway, Tony is complaining about having to be there, and in a random moment, some guy bumps into Rachel and starts hitting on her. Of course, Tony does his whole "Back off. Because I'm her husband" thing, and the guy leaves. At first, this seems like, as I said, just a random moment, used for one-off joke. Not so. The guy heads down to the bar and finds a gorgeous, British woman there, impressing the bartender with her knowledge of ... well, fancy booze, I guess. And, of course, because he's clearly on a roll, the guy starts hitting on her, as well. I'm sure things will work out for him this time. Cut to an undetermined amount of time later, and Tony gets beeped...on his beeper. The nineties! Anyway, they tell him to get to the parking garage, where - surprise! - the guy who likes to hit on women has been murdered, with a straight razor, no less. Things look a bit messy at the crime scene. Especially when the press shows up. Yeah, there's also a bit of a thing about the intrusive reporters getting in the way. We do always need some side stuff.
While that's continuing, we then find ourselves in a dark apartment, belonging to ... the British woman from the bar. Why do we care about this person? What's her deal? Well, she sits down in her room, starts to take off her make-up, as you do, then her fake nails, because again, the nineties, and also she removes a wig. Okay, so she likes to dress up a lot when she goes out. Nothing wrong there. Until she opens her purse and pulls out a straight razor. If you would like to call this foreshadowing, be my guest, but this is just them flat out telling us that this woman is the killer. We actually witness her killing someone at one point, but this story is not about us trying to figure out who's guilty as the police do, the way it usually works. This is all about why she is doing it. Now when it comes to this character, her name is an issue and a non-issue at the same time, so, for now, I will be referring to her as Disguise Lady. And she is played by Wendel Meldrum, an actress who did an amazing job here. Seriously, when I said this was entertaining and interesting it is thanks, in large part, to her. Now let's get to that other plot.
After briefing his precinct about the murder, Tony goes off to pick up an old friend and mentor of his named Terry Boyle, played by The Old Man Parker, himself, Darren McGavin. And if you thought I wasn't, or am not again, going to make any A Christmas Story references, first, welcome to the blog, and second, you are just no fun. Anyway, though Terry is merely there for a visit, as he is going through a difficult time in his life, Tony talks him into helping with the investigation. Wait, isn't that how he got Paulie to work for him permanently? Well, at least, he's consistent. And nothing could possibly go wrong with this. Right?
So, let's get back to Disguise Lady. She turns up at, of all places, the precinct, and she's there talking to Officer Ronnie about having to pick up her car, because it was found abandoned, after she apparently misplaced it. Her car. Just go with it. Of course, when we see her now, gone is the classy Brit and in her place, we find a woman who is quiet and clearly shy, uneasy being out in public, and most importantly, she isn't dressed as well as she was, so downgrade. Relax, though. As soon as she gets to her car, she, quite literally, whips her hair back and forth, and decides to take on a new persona. This one consists of a lot of leather. Leather vest, leather chaps...over jeans, so calm down, and a brand new accent. Southern, this time. Yeah, I guess if I was forced to nitpick at all about the performance of this actress, I'd say she went a bit over the top with this persona. Not bad, just a bit much. But it's a small nitpick. Anyway, she goes into a tattoo parlor where she does two things. First, she gets a rose tattoo...on her boob, as you do, and second, she leaves with a guy who is old enough to be her father and has a motorcycle. No, he's not going through a midlife crisis at all. Not at all. So, he takes her for a ride on his bike, letting her sit behind him. So, isn't there some thing about not turning your back on certain people, because, you know, stuff can happen? Well, stuff happened. She basically killed him. How? She covered his eyes as he drove, proceeding to gouge them and then jumped off the bike just before he flew off the side of a mountain. That was quite creative, also risky, considering she may have killed herself, too. But, hey, you have got to take a few risks if you want to have an adventurous life.
They find motorcycle dude's body and bike at the bottom of the mountain, and Tony, Terry and Paulie begin to speculate on what might have happened. Doesn't take that long for them to figure it out, nor to get rid of the crime scene paparazzi. Yes, they show up again. Go away, just go away. The boys do some more canvassing, which leads them to the tattoo parlor. They show the artist the police sketch from the previous murder, but he draws the woman he saw. They look kind of different. Of course they do. It's Disguise Lady.
Speaking of which, in this time, she has decided to go blond and go personal trainer, and she manages to sneak into a country club. Well, she manages to "idiot security guard" her way in, which is more accurate. Ironically, Tony is there at the same time, picking up his son David, who is there with friends. And he actually has a conversation in passing with the woman. WHAT! Okay, to be fair, he wasn't looking for a blond and probably didn't think that a serial killer could be so ... perky. Too bad he didn't know who it was because she ended up killing someone else. Another old guy, and this time, with a golf club. Killing an old guy with a golf club at a country club. There's irony in there, somewhere. Also, another old guy? What could it mean? It's at this point where Mayor Hinton, who has been on Tony's back the whole time, decides that she wants Terry to officially be on the case. And I don't know if he got paid, but I'm sure he would have been quite happy with a new furnace and some turkey. Yeah, I went there.
Now, it's around this time where we start to figure out just why Disguise Lady is doing all this. The biggest clue is when she wakes up and freaks when she sees the tattoo. She also starts calling out different names asking who did it. Get it! They aren't just disguises or personas that she chooses the take on. She has multiple personalities. This was, by the way, a major go-to in the eighties and nineties in television and movies. Well done here, though. And she is so upset with the tattoo, she tries to burn it off with hot water, something that lands her in the hospital. It's around this time, as well, that Tony finds out about the woman who came in to find her car near the start of the movie, and we finally find out that her name is Emily Daniels. Hey, now I can call her that. She eventually is arrested when they find the straight razor with the victim's blood on it in a box of detergent in her house. She maintains her innocence and is eventually let go. But not because of that.
As it happens, Terry, so sure of her guilt, thought it would be a good idea to plant some evidence to ensure her arrest. Let me stress that he is not a bad guy,; he just did a bad thing. I don't think that's a good idea and neither does Tony. It's because of this that they have to let Emily go, but, after talking with a doctor about a previous case, he believes that Emily may be both innocent and guilty, due to multiple personalities. He goes to her house managing to bring out the core persona, a little girl named Jessica who was abused by her father. So you see why she chose all older men to kill. But it's not enough to re-arrest her. Besides, Tony feels like Emily might not even know what she has done. So, despite being upset with his friend, he lets Terry help, acting as the bait for one of Emily's murderous personalities. It eventually works, ending with Jessica coming out, trying to do the only thing she thinks she can to stop all the people inside of her, which is to kill herself. But Tony manages to save her life, probably in more ways than one.
And so everything comes to a close, with the mayor celebrating her re-election and Tony sending Terry back home. Their relationship has been obviously strained, but it is still intact, nonetheless. It's clear that, though Tony has always looked up to him, wanting to be so much like, he has to do what he always does - the right thing. It's what ultimately always sees him through.
And that was Father Image. As I said, it is the one I find most interesting and entertaining, what with so much going on. Still, you never seem overwhelmed with it all. It's just right. Well, it is after all, The Commish.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
