Roommates (1995)

A relentlessly heartwarming intergenerational story, based on an autobiographical book by Max Apple, Roommates (Hollywood, PG) is about a feisty, ancient guy (Peter Falk, wrinkled like a cinnamon bun and rumbling in Polish like an immigrant, nursing home-bound Columbo) and the orphaned grandson he raises (earnest, fresh-faced D.B. Sweeney, playing a young, devoted doctor). There's nothing wrong with the message ''Family takes care of family'' (and lest you miss it, director Peter Yates bops you over the head with Very Special Moments). But there is something dispiriting about a machine-made drama like this one, in which the nostalgic idea of spending quality time with aged Grandpa substitutes for making the lovableness of Grandpa really come alive. C-