Lethal Weapon – Frankie Comes To Hollywood

By starrymag | April 17, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

In 2002, Roger Murtaugh (Damon Wayans) records a video for Riana Murtaugh (Chandler Kinney) as he drives, expressing his excitement about her birth. He answers a call from Trish Murtaugh (Keesha Sharp), asking why he’s not at the hospital as she’s giving birth. Murtaugh tells her he’s ten minutes away, but stops to investigate gunshots nearby once he hangs up. Frankie Kelso (Jude Ciccolella) points a gun at him, but he explains that his wife is about to give birth and pleads with him to not let his kids grow up without a father.

 

Frankie orders him to get to the ground and in the present Murtaugh and Riana argue as he tries to teach her how to drive. He emphasizes that a single mistake on the road can kill her. Pulling out a thermos of soup, he explains that the soup test is supposed to help prevent quick starts and stops. As Murtaugh continues to talk to her, Riana stops short and the soup falls into Murtaugh’s lap. She gets out of the car, but forgets to put the break on. Murtaugh climbs into the driver’s seat and stops the car before it crashes.

 

Martin Riggs (Clayne Crawford) drives to Texas to visit his father, Nathan Riggs (Rex Linn). Separated by glass, Riggs asks why he had Molly’s son’s dog killed. Nathan insists he didn’t intend to hurt the dog, but just wanted to send a message that Riggs needed to see him. Nathan accuses him of judging him without understanding what it’s like to be on the other side, and apologizes for everything. Riggs is shocked to hear the apology, and orders Nathan to stay away from him and anybody he cares about.

 

As they arrive at the crime scene, Murtaugh rants to Sonya Bailey (Michelle Mitchenor) about Riana’s driving and Riggs’ absence. Bernard Scorsese (Johnathan Fernandez) fills them in on details of the victim, and Murtaugh recognizes the victim and all of the signs that Frankie is behind the murder from his research. Riggs walks in with the murder weapon, and Murtaugh accuses him of contaminating the weapon.  Murtaugh continues to explain that Frankie is behind the murder, and Riggs calls him out for contaminating the crime scene by stepping in the victim’s blood.

 

Riggs tells Maureen Cahill (Jordana Brewster) about his visit with Nathan, and questions his angle with the apology. Cahill assesses that Riggs is bothered that he didn’t get the confrontation with Nathan that he was hoping for. She suggests that Riggs’ every move is a reaction to Nathan and that he shouldn’t let him control his life. She advises him to let go of his rage, but Riggs replies that Nathan will die at some point.

 

Murtaugh shows everyone the elaborate research he’s done on Frankie for sixteen years using several notebooks. Brooks Avery (Kevin Rahm) asks why the notebooks are so empty, and Murtaugh admits that Frankie was harder to find than he thought. Avery asks how they should look for Frankie, and Murtaugh suggests they go through every notebook. However, Sonya pulls up security footage of Frankie at the crime scene in seconds and evidence that his car is parked near a houseboat.

 

Riggs and Murtaugh go to arrest Frankie with a tactical team, and Murtaugh argues that Riggs isn’t taking Frankie seriously. Riggs kicks the door down despite Murtaugh’s warning that it might be booby-trapped, and they find the boat deserted. They see a nearby boat sail away, and Riggs climbs onto a boat to chase it. Riggs climbs onto the boat as he catches up to it, but finds nobody onboard. As he reports that the boat is a decoy, Frankie points a gun at Murtaugh from the backseat of the car.

 

As Murtaugh drives, Frankie insists that he is being framed for the murder. Murtaugh doesn’t believe him, and Frankie orders him to turn into an alleyway. He asks how his daughter is, and Murtaugh mentions that she’s driving. Frankie orders Murtaugh to get out of the car, and to turn around. Murtaugh is surprised that he doesn’t hear a gunshot, but Frankie peeing. He mentions that he’s been holding it in, and Murtaugh realizes that they see the same urologist. Frankie gives him a phone number to run, insisting it’s the person who set him up.

 

Riggs looks through Murtaugh’s notebooks, and Murtaugh calls him to run the number. He asks why he’s giving the number to him, and Murtaugh tells him that he’s the best cop he knows. Frankie forces him to hang up, and Riggs realizes Murtaugh is in trouble. Riggs, Avery, and Sonya determine that Frankie’s contact is Danny Mancini (E.E. Bell) or “The Panther.” Sonya mentions that he’s from Texas, and Riggs calls Nathan about how to locate Mancini.

 

Frankie and Murtaugh visit Mancini, and Frankie accuses him of setting him up. Murtaugh is surprised that Mancini is the Panther, as his own image was different. Mancini denies setting Frankie up, but admits that he was asked to by a kid when Frankie threatens to kill him. He hears a customer come in, and Riggs tells him that he’s looking for two antiques, one old and one middle-aged. Mancini tells him that he’s closed, and pulls a gun when Riggs identifies him as the Panther.

 

Murtaugh and Frankie walk out, and Frankie orders Murtaugh to tell Riggs to drop his weapon. Three gunmen walk into the shop and shoot Mancini. During the shootout, Frankie explains that they think he killed their boss and runs out of bullets. Riggs takes out the gunmen and asks Murtaugh how it feels to finally bring down Frankie.

 

Murtaugh tells Avery and Riggs that Frankie didn’t commit the murder, arguing that he wouldn’t risk abducting him if he was guilty. Both of them are skeptical of his innocence, and Murtaugh starts arguing with Riggs. Sonya interrupts to tell Riggs that Nathan is calling, but Riggs orders her to take a message. Avery tells Murtaugh that Riggs was so worried about him that he called Nathan to help track him down.

 

Riggs calls Nathan back, telling him that his lead paid off. He tries to hang up, but Nathan insists on using his weekly phone call to the fullest extent. Nathan asks Riggs to tell him something about himself, and expresses surprise that he ended up being a cop. He comments that Riggs turned out all right despite everything, and Riggs hangs up. An inmate (Brian Oerly) comes up to Nathan and confronts him about getting Mancini killed. Nathan attacks him and beats up the other inmates.

 

Riana yells at Murtaugh for ruining her driver’s test by getting into her head with all of his worrying. Murtaugh comments that she remembered all of his tips, but she tells him that she accidentally rolled over the instructor’s foot. As Riana storms off, Murtaugh argues that she’s not ready to drive. Trish blames him for scaring her, and orders him to fix it. Riggs interrogates Frankie and shows him Murtaugh’s research. Frankie looks at the picture of the family of the man he murdered years ago when he first met Murtaugh, and confesses to the murder. Avery is thrilled by the confession, but Riggs doesn’t believe that he’s guilty.

 

Murtaugh shows Riana video of the night she was born, ending with him promising in the hospital that he won’t let anything bad happen to her. He explains that’s why he’s so protective, and she replies that she’s not a baby anymore. Murtaugh argues that she needs to be fully ready to drive, but Riana pulls up the footage of him recording while driving and criticizes his errors. Murtaugh notices the same car in the footage that was at the framed crime scene and realizes that the two cases are connected.

 

Sonya tells him that Frankie confessed, and Murtaugh continues to insist that Frankie is innocent. Riggs tries to tell Murtaugh that he agrees with him, but Murtaugh keeps interrupting and ranting about how Riggs never has his back. Riggs is finally able to tell him that he agrees, and they go into the interrogation room and prove that Frankie’s dominant eye and the dominant eye of the actual killer don’t match up. Frankie explains that immaculate degeneration in his right eye forced him to switch, and Murtaugh argues that whoever set him up didn’t know about the switch.

 

Frankie refuses to reveal whom he’s covering for, and reminds Murtaugh that he’s wanted to arrest him for years. Murtaugh tells him he can’t arrest him for a crime that he didn’t commit, and tells him he’s free to go. Frankie asks what he’s supposed to do with his freedom, and Riggs replies that they don’t care. Sonya shows Avery evidence that the car belonged to the man Frankie killed years ago and was passed along to his son, Sam Stoller (Jake Austin Walker). Sonya reports the details to the officers watching Frankie, but Sam shoots them before approaching Frankie.

 

As they drive to the scene, Riggs questions why Frankie would confess to the murder if he knew Sam was responsible. Sam points a gun at Frankie, who admits that he knows why he’s there. Frankie admits that he has his death coming, and tells Sam that his father’s murder wasn’t personal. Frankie argues that his father was a bad person, and Sam shoots him before duct taping him to a chair. Sam shoots at Riggs and Murtaugh as they arrive at the scene, and they use the car as a shield to get to Frankie.

 

They pull Frankie to safety, cut him loose, and Riggs tells Murtaugh to take Frankie to a hospital. Frankie breaks up their ensuing argument and Murtaugh drives away with Frankie. Riggs and Sam shoot at each other, and Sam believes that he hit Riggs. Murtaugh calls the hospital to inform them of Frankie’s arrival, and Murtaugh’s phone starts ringing. Murtaugh tells Frankie he’ll call Riana back, but Frankie reminds him that Riana is the reason he didn’t kill him years ago. Riana tells Murtaugh that she’s going to retake the driver’s test, and asks for a pep talk.

 

Murtaugh tells her to focus on the road ahead, as Frankie lies down in the back of car on the verge of death. Frankie tells Murtaugh that he’s a good father as he hangs up. Sam goes to check on Riggs, but doesn’t find him. As he searches, Riggs sets off an explosion behind him and sends Sam flying to the ground. Murtaugh orders Frankie to hang in there, but Frankie dies in the back of the car.

 

Riggs rants to Cahill that he hates that Nathan thinks that he owes him because of one favor. She points out that Riggs can’t talk about Nathan without getting angry, and Riggs suggests he wants to be angry. The prison calls Riggs, and Avery asks Murtaugh if it feels good to finally catch the criminal he’s been hunting for years. Murtaugh argues that Frankie redeemed himself, and Riggs tells him that he needs to take a few days off. Murtaugh thanks him for his efforts to find him.

 

Riana excitedly tells Murtaugh that she passed her driver’s test, and Murtaugh struggles to be happy for her. Trish gets his attention, and he puts on a fake smile while congratulating her. Riana asks if she can have the keys, and Trish hands them over. Once she leaves, Trish tells her that Riana shouldn’t have passed her test from what she saw. Riggs visits the prison, where Dr. Stone (Romi Dias) tells him that Nathan was stabbed. Stone tells him that he’ll live this time, but that it’s only a matter of time before the inmates try to kill him again and suggests that Riggs use his cop status to get Nathan moved to another facility.