MovieChat Forums > Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996) Discussion > Messy

Messy

posted 12 years ago by Lunchbox-3
6 replies | jump to latest

Just finished the original series and then watched this movie. I guess it's nice to see most of the old gang back together but just like the last couple of seasons of the show were weak, and the conclusion of Season 14 was very weak, this reunion is a mess.

Just from a writing standpoint there are too many simultaneous storylines breaking here. One inciting incident can kick off a series of events but this time there are multiple things all in motion at the same time after 5 years of nothing. (1) After years of running Ewing Oil and Westar with no Ewing interference, Cliff and McKay are deciding to merge the companies. (2) At the same time, John Ross is turning 18 which gives J.R. a loophole to get back into the oil business. (3) Bobby just meets a new girl and begins a romance and she has ties to (4) Afton and Pamela who have just now moved back to Dallas and (5) Sue Ellen and Don Lockwood have just broken up, giving J.R. a chance to romance here again. Amazing that all these things happened within a few days of each other.

So first of all, they spent the last 4 years of the series getting Cliff out of the oil business, out of the revenge against J.R. business, and interested in family. Then suddenly in the last half-dozen episodes they had him throw away his chance at happiness so he could screw over J.R. again. And now after 5 years running Ewing he wants to get out of the oil business again. I guess this puts him back on the same track he was for those last 4 seasons but why now? Why did he run Ewing Oil for 5 years? He only wanted it to screw over J.R., he didn't really want to run it. If J.R. left town he should have dumped it. And why is McKay running Westar again? He got out of the oil business at the end of the series. Actually I'm not sure who ended up with Westar since McKay and Dusty Farlow all sold their shares. Never mind that when LeeAnn De La Vega bought Ewing Oil, J.R. ended up with cash equal to the value of the company so he could have had his own company Ewing and Ewing just as big as Cliff's Ewing Oil so why did J.R. skip town? Like he said, wherever he was, was Ewing Oil.

I didn't like the way Miss Ellie and Clayton were always on vacation in the last years of the series. Here again, they're too busy to come to J.R.'s funeral. Maybe at this point they should have said they were dead.

Was J.R. lying about Lucy and Mitch being married or did they really tie the knot a third time?

Convenient that Sly was available to help J.R. when she had left town at the end of the series.

Why did they dig up such a minor character like the cop who was investigating the Johnny Dancer murder and have him working for J.R. as a crooked cop? In season 14 he was a good cop, he refused to work for McKay because he didn't want to do anything crooked for a businessman. Sure, they can say things changed for him in the last 5 years but why?

Why is J.R. working with that bum Rattigan again? He gave him his walking papers at the end of the series. Considering he never gave his old friend Harry McSween a second chance, why would he give a second chance to a second rate piker like Rattigan?

Someone already mentioned the age discrepancies with the kids. Pamela should have been like 5 years younger than Christopher and a 17 year old dating a 12 year old doesn't seem cool.

Almost comical that they'd drag out old Jock's will yet again and find a new previously unmentioned section with new arrangements on it. Considering the suddenness of his death, it's amazing that he was able to write so many letters, wills and amendments to his wills just days before his death.

J.R. banging Tracy Scoggins is so wrong, and yet so right.

John Ross tagging two chicks at a slumber party is somehow even more wrong.

Bobby hooking up with the same girl from the "It's a Wonderful Life" episode was also kind of odd.

All in all, nice to see everyone again but what a mess.

[–] TheSolarSailor 11 years ago

Convenient that Sly was available to help J.R. when she had left town at the end of the series. >>> It was a job that Sly's new husband was taking in another state. This is five years later, so there is no reason that Sly couldn't be back in town by then.

Why did they dig up such a minor character like the cop who was investigating the Johnny Dancer murder and have him working for J.R. as a crooked cop? In season 14 he was a good cop, he refused to work for McKay because he didn't want to do anything crooked for a businessman. Sure, they can say things changed for him in the last 5 years but why? >>> Same actor, different character. They used to do this all the time on the series.

Anyhow, I liked the reunion movie OK, but I really hated the War of the Ewings entry that followed. My only real complaint was that the scheme J.R. hatched was far too encompassing and ridiculous to have worked. Early on, it was alright, but after all the twists and turns, we are expected to believe that he had it all planned that way? It was silly. But that's the nature of 2 hour movies based on a series. Stuff has to happen and can't be allowed to unfold naturally or believably.

Cliff's plot with Afton and their daughter was hastily wrapped up as well.

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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] marten77 11 years ago

Thank god, this board is not dead!

Hope you can fill me in on Christopher and Pamela Rebecca Cooper/Barnes in this movie. What was their story?

You already mentioned their ages in your post: "Pamela should have been like 5 years younger than Christopher and a 17 year old dating a 12 year old doesn't seem cool."

That was one thing I wanted to know. But how old did Pamela look in this movie? Like a twelve year old or older like the age of Christopher?

In another review I found this: "Christopher is intrigued by Julia's charge Pamela (who is actually Pamela Cooper)."

Could you tell me what happened between them? Did they know each other before?

I'm asking because I'm just watching season 1 of the new Dallas series where Pamela Rebecca disguises as Rebecca Sutter and marries Christopher.

Was there something going on in this movie that could lead to a continuity error in the new Dallas series?

Please answer, I'm too curious! ;)

[–] TheSolarSailor 11 years ago

As I recall, the Pamela Cooper character was staying in Dallas with her aunt or something who just so happened to b dating Bobby, and inevitably ended up dating Christopher. There is some stupid plot by J.R. that is so convoluted that it is ridiculous, involving getting Afton put into a mental institution in another state and then Cliff rushing to her rescue, thus getting him out of town when an important merger between Ewing Oil and Weststar is supposed to happen. Cliff discovers the truth about his daughter and everyone is happy. It's all rather convenient and silly.

Yes, the girl is about the same age as Christopher in the movie, but there is no continuity error with the new series. The new Dallas picks up twenty years later after the last episode of the old series, where we are left to believe that J.R. shoots himself as Bobby runs into the room. The reunion movies are not a part of the continuity at all and can be considered dreams that J.R. has while he is in the nursing home for all of those years. Why not? if season 9 can be a dream, then these movies can too. In any case, either watch these movies as the end of Dallas, or skip them and continue on with the new show instead. It's your choice.

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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?

[–] marten77 11 years ago

Hey thanks for your reply, I appreciate that.

Well, I haven't seen the movie but just had the chance to take a look at some clips of it on youtube (almost exclusively scenes of JR, none of Pamela and Christopher though). Plus from what I read here on the board I think I could figure the plot out a bit.

I like your idea of considering it to be one of JRs dreams because from what I saw it seemed very surreal. Like the conversations being a bit strange, JR with a glued on mustache in a night club or that scene when the judge needs a signature for Aftons detainment and JR goes "Oh that's no problem, my nieces husband is her brother so I can sign it" - that's hilarious!

Maybe I can catch it sometime on TV...

[–] TheSolarSailor 11 years ago

The first movie is decent enough despite it's contrived plot. The characters are decently portrayed and J.R. truly is the highlight. Now War of the Ewings, on the other hand, was terrible. Everyone was really off base in that one, and the plot was embarrassingly predictable. The movies have everything that would make for a great J.R. dream, though...his masterful plan to get Ewing Oil back, then in the next film seeing Carter McKay crawl in an effort to get back on top and seeing Ray be a bankrupt idiot. It's all the stuff that J.R. would want to see happen.

I wouldn't spend money on these films, though! The one movie that is actually good is the prequel film, Dallas: the Early Years. That was really well made and you can tell it had a big budget for a TV film. The cast was great and the movie tells the story of how Jock Ewing came to be married to Miss Ellie Southworth, as well as showing us the falling out that Jock had with his brother Jason and what the story was behind Digger Barnes. It is definitely worth a watch. Ignore the two reunion movies that came later.

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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?