The Guardian – Review

Reviews, Theatrical Reviews


Image courtesy of www.impawards.com

Director :

Andrew Davis

Cast :

Kevin Costner”¦”¦”¦.Ben Randall
Ashton Kutcher”¦”¦”¦.Jake Fischer

Ashton Kutcher is in nearly the same situation currently that Kevin Costner found himself twenty years ago. In 1986 Costner was on the verge of starting on the bulk of his career as the four films that make up the films he’s most associated with, The Untouchables and Dances with Wolves as well as Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, all were on the horizon after his big break in Silverado. With those films, and several others, Costner would carve out a place in cinema as one of the top actors of his age despite not having a prototypical body or dashing good looks. Kutcher, who became a household name with a stint on That 70s Show, has the same sort of appeal that Costner did at the same age. He’s good-looking and charismatic, but has yet to become a top level star despite the promise he’s shown. At this stage of the game Kutcher is at the point where he needs to put together a string of projects that will finally allow him to shed the “television actor” tag that many haven’t; with a couple of successful movies aimed at an adult audience he could make that leap and develop the sort of off-beat appeal that Costner has ridden in a successful career.

Costner and Kutcher combine their talents in The Guardian, a film about rescue swimmers in the Coast Guard. Ben Randall (Costner) is a legend in the Coast Guard for being a great rescue swimmer, but is haunted by memories of an accident only he survived. Jake Fischer (Kutcher) is a young man who bypassed college, and a plethora of swimming scholarships, to join the Coast Guard to become a rescue swimmer. When Randall is assigned to the qualifying school in the aftermath of the accident which claims his entire crew as an instructor, Fische’s cocky attitude draws Randall’s wrath as Fischer tries to survive Randall’s unorthodox training measures.

While the advertising campaign feels more reminiscent of Top Gun, the more apt comparison would be to An Officer and a Gentleman in terms of plot structure. Costner and Kutcher have about the same dynamic and chemistry as Richard Gere and Lou Gossett Jr. did, though Costner doesn’t bring nearly as good a performance in his role as the drill instructor. The Guardian has the same kind of interaction with the characters, as Randall sees something in Fischer that could be greatness and wants to harness it out of the young wannabe rescue swimmer. Costner seems to really embrace his role as more of an elder statesman and quiet, hardened hero as opposed to using it to try and upstage his younger stars. While his professionalism and overall ability leave him much more polished than some of his younger stars on screen, Costner works with the cast quite well.

And it would be easy for this to become another film like Annapolis, but credit Andrew Davis and a strong script with not taking the easy way out. This is much more of a character study, where we find more about Jake as the film bears on; Randall’s interactions change throughout the film the more he leans about him and so does Jake’s character. There’s also plenty of comedy to break up the proceedings, as well; there are plenty of moments that need an interjection of a wisecrack or three and right when it’s starting to get melodramatic there’s a quick quip to break up the monotony. While the film does get a bit slow due to an awkward pace, and is about 20 minutes longer than it really needs to be due to some plot clutter midway through, it is wonderfully shot.

The cinematography is top notch; Davis is a veteran of plenty of action-oriented films and the camerawork and angles used brings a much heightened sense of danger to the action sequences. This dangerous work, and trying to do it in what is supposed to be the Bering Sea gives it another element to work with, and Davis wisely doesn’t try and use any camera tricks. Opting for nearly the same type of shots that made A Perfect Storm wonderful to watch, the action sequences bring another quality aspect to the film.

InsidePulse’s Ratings for The Guardian
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
STORY

8.0
ACTING

7.5
ORIGINALITY

5.0
LOOK/FEEL

9.0
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE

8.0
OVERALL
7.5