‘Mitchell’ Is Part Of Joe Don Baker’s Legacy, For Better Or Worse

‘Mitchell’ Is Part Of Joe Don Baker’s Legacy, For Better Or Worse

“When Mitchell finally reaches the tube,” Boston Globe movie critic Kevin Kelly wrote in his review of the 1975 film, “you can alleviate its unending boredom by looking forward to the commercials.” Kelly was right that the movie needed an upgrade, and that TV would provide it. But it turns out there was a better way to alleviate the unending boredom of Mitchell. The movie, in which Baker plays the slobbish cop who gives the film its name, is sho…