McBride: The Chameleon Murder (2005) Online

John Larroquette is the latest of those who have experienced fame on long-running television series to move on to a second career and another perhaps long-running character or franchise. Jack Klugman did it, going from "The Odd Couple" to "Quincy". Dick Van Dyke did it with his long-running sitcom to "Diagnosis Murder". Buddy Ebsen followed "The Beverly Hillbillies" with Barnaby Jones. And with Larroquette who is following up "Night Court" with "McBride", following Andy Griffith who went from his self-titled series to "Matlock".

Larroquette is given a good character here. He brings to his role a heartfelt and genuine desire to help those accused without concern for say how much they can pay; his primary concern is finding out the other and perhaps the potential and most likely suspect. That is why perhaps he gets away with what he does in court; the prosecution has the new suspect practically handed to them. The ADA and the DA here perhaps will arrest that one and then maybe McBride will end up defending that person in a subsequent trial. McBride is a throwback to the days of Perry Mason where everyone Perry defended was truly innocent. McBride uses his investigatory skills honed from his career as a police officer to spend lots of time away from his office, and what he is unable to get hold of he leaves to his companion, a former public defender who seems to be getting a better education about being a lawyer than he did in law school. He is genuinely more concerned about finding the truth than have been many TV and movie lawyers the past few years, who seem to be mainly concerned with billable hours, getting ahead of their rivals, showing off their cars, their expensive threads, you name it. But Larroquette is fine with his offices, his house, and the dog a client left him, along with the house. That feeling of satisfaction that he gets is worth more than just say getting his client off. He wants to see his client not acquitted but cleared, exonerated.

That said, I cannot say that this is the best of his character's movies yet, but it provides a nice introduction to the series. Interesting move to place Larroquette in the flashback so you say see it as he sees it as the witness or the accused tells his story. The guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time. My main complaint was that Larroquette agreed too quickly that he was innocent; I would think you would need a little more reason to believe that.

For those who want to see a mystery movie similar to those of the 1970s like Columbo, watch McBride. It is, for me, a respite from the procedural shows and the seemingly endless reality shows all over the cable wires of late.

This may contain several references to the movie for those who haven't seen it yet. Then again, it may get some curious about it to watch in case it airs again.

If you're in the mood for a neatly satisfying detective yarn without too many complications to obscure the plot, this is your chance to watch a Hallmark presentation starring John Larroquette as detective McBride.

Without needing too much persuasion (a bit hard to swallow), he takes on the almost open and shut case of a young man falsely accused of murder and robbery. He goes about methodically interviewing various suspects without realizing that the chief suspect is one he and the viewer will undoubtedly overlook. In true crime fashion, here the actual killer is the one you are least likely to suspect.

Suffice it to say, this tale about a woman with several identities, passes the time pleasantly with enough quips and interesting situations to keep you tuned in until the conclusion.

Enjoyed viewing John Larroquette,(McBride),"Happy Family",'03 TV Series, perform as a lawyer who had a kind heart and was willing to defend a client who had no money and was deeply involved in a murder which was almost air tight against him. The film starts off with a very sexy hot looking blond driving along and stops at a Diner and mets a guy who needs a ride. The blond buys him a cup of coffee and gives him a ride to his destination. Once the blonde drops him off in front of his apartment things start to happened and McBride gets to work trying to solve a murder mystery which is very hard to figure out. Very enjoyable film and entertaining; it should be made into a TV Series.

The story starts off with a beautiful blond woman giving a man a ride to his house. She flirts with him and drops him off.

Later she is murdered in her car and the young man is blamed. Her pocket book is found in his house and other things seem to make him look guilty.

McBride represents the young man for a friend of his that works with the man and says there is no way he can murder someone.

McBride and his crew find out 1. The husband of the dead woman is rich and does not seem sad about her death. He is also a womanizer. 2. They find out she has a hotel room in another state and is also married to someone from the mob who is not short of money either. 3. They find out she is married to a third man and is leaving the country with a new wig and passport. 4. She also bought a condo with husbands money who did not know about it.

While McBride is putting these things together and brings up the case in court. He brings about sympathy for the poor murdered woman who was put in different foster homes when she was young and would do anything a man wanted her too.

When you see her in the car the first time with the man she is giving a ride home she is not a man pleaser. She is a man user and uses their money and flirts to get what she wants and offers some sort of service. She married rich men and travels back and forth to different husbands.

So she gets murdered but the sympathy McBride tries to get her that she was adopted, tried to please men is unwarranted.

PS The series is not bad but there is constant music in the background to make the story interesting, it is repetitive and annoying.

As much as I like John Larroquette, I found this "mystery" a little hard to watch, mainly for what it didn't deliver - John Larroquette. He is playing it so low-key in this un-puzzling story that I was afraid he had fallen asleep.

Also, I must have watched too much "Law & Order" over the years, because I found myself wanting to leap up and cry "objection" in the courtroom scenes. From Perry Mason to Ben Matlock, TV attorneys have almost always bent the rules of the court by revealing facts in their "questions" that no judge would ever allow in a real trial. But even the staid and stoic Owen Marshall did it with more vigor than Larroquette's somnambulent McBride (no first name given).

The charge for this one: Dullness in the first degree.

This is a show starts with a parrot giving evidence. So make yourself comfortable. McBride , as someone else says somewhere catches a lot of Columbo fans who like their heroes to work things out for them and generally McBride does a nice job of fulfilling the fantasy. Comparisons to Perry Mason are plentiful elsewhere but Mason is/was a fantasy hero of a different nature and pulled so many tricks in court that would not be allowed in the USA or Britain certainly. Perry Mason had pretty much the same formula every week and had one of the greatest of theme tunes which conjured up a film noir style and the heavily set Raymond Burr as Mason and his entourage followed a pattern much more so than McBride whose wooing of the sexy older woman, D.S. Roberta Hansen, is entertaining and more of its time than the worshipful Della Street in Perry Mason. It's all feel-good and make believe so enjoy the parrot scene ( is it a parrot? ) it is hilarious and comes close to another albeit more famous sketch with a parrot from a certain British comic troupe.

**Spoilers** Somewhat nonchalant and deadpan in his approach to getting his client hospital orderly Dudley Banks, Devon Gummersall, found innocent of a murder charge ex-cop and now full time lawyer Mike McBride, John Larroquette, got his hands full in just establishing just whom Banks murdered. In that the murder victim classy blond beautiful and now dead Whitney Collier, Maeve Quinlan, is not the person that she seems to be. In fact she's three or possibly four different people at the same time. Not different personalities but real flash and blood human beings!

With Whitney giving the startled in not realizing what's he's in for Dudley a ride home after meeting him in an all night diner the end of the ride ended up with her getting strangled and left in her car. With Whitney's purse and $5,000.00 in cash found in Dudley's apartment by the police, who were tipped of, the next morning he's arrested and later booked for her murder. With McBride taking on the case Pro Bono he works his behind off in and out of the courtroom to get to the bottom of who really murdered Whitney Collier. That leads to her having three different husbands as well as identities at the same time! And on top of all that Whitney was in the process of establishing a forth one in order to get a new passport and check out of the country before her scheme was soon to be exposed!

***SPOILERS*** With McBride coming up zilch in getting any evidence on Whitney's three husbands having murdered her it becomes apparent to him that her death was not the result of a jealous lover or husband but that in fact it was money that was behind it. The money that she was stiffing her three husbands out of whom a forth party got wind of. And as McBride soon discovered that person was someone very close to him. So close that he can keep up with everything that was going on. In just what McBride was doing and watch his every movement in trying to solve Whitney's murder, and thus exonerating his client Dudely Banks, and always have him be one step ahead of him! Without McBride ever realizing it!