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The Guardian (2006)
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Movie Review by Ash
November 2nd, 2006
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The Coast Guard Meets Top Gun
The Premise:
Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) is a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. In the Coast Guard, rescue swimmers are considered the best of the best. Of rescue swimmers in the Coast Guard, Ben Randall is the best of the best.
At the start of our story, Ben's wife Helen (Sela Ward) decides to leave him after presumably many, many years of marriage and nearing the eve of his retirement as a rescue swimmer, for no other reason then she can't take it anymore that he's more in love with saving lives than with her. To top things off, he's just had a near death experience and lost his entire crew during a rescue. She's been with him all these years, but picks now to leave him.
Needless to say, he's an emotional wreck and his commanding officer recognizes this offering him two choices: either retire now, or take a teaching position. Obviously he takes the teaching position.
Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) is a state champion swimmer with scholarships to any university of his choice, but for some reason he's decided to join the Coast Guard and become a rescue swimmer. Randall thinks he's just a young punk with something to prove and doesn't buy his desire to save lives. In predictable fashion, he pushes Fischer (nicknamed "Fish" how clever) harder than anyone else. The movie proceeds to show whether Fischer can take it and what his true motivations really are.
Thoughts:
The Guardian has been described as Top Gun meets the Coast Guard, and it's completely accurate. The Guardian follows the Top Gun formula (which admittedly makes for a good movie) almost to a tee. It's been a while since the Top Gun formula has been pulled out of the studios' closet so I wasn't too bothered.
Surprisingly Ashton Kutcher delivers a dramatic performance that surpassed my expectations. He's not going to win any oscars, but he's fully believable and enjoyable in the role. Costner really helps carry the show. Not only is he good, but he's charismatic and commands the attention of the audience. Every other character sadly has little or no bearing on the story. This movie is all about Randall and Fischer; a figurative father and son story.
The Guardian does a good job bringing you into the world of the Coast Guard. It spends a good amount of time in the training scenes to help deliver a sense of what it's like to become a rescue swimmer. The actual rescues themselves carry a strong amount of tension, and the special effects are as good as they come for this type of film.
The Guardian was never going to be an incredible film, but it could have been a better one. The biggest problem the film has is all the contrivances. Contrivances are when things happen for no apparent reason other than the script says so. Randall's wife leaving him after all these years made no sense. The guy was not only a legend in their town, but he was a true hero who saved lives. She's not upset because what he does is dangerous. She leaves him because he likes it too much. Huh? I really wanted to see her drown out in the ocean because another Coast Guard rescue swimmer didn't like what he did enough to try hard enough to save her. There are plenty more in the film such as the cliche'd love interest, and most importantly the end. I don't wanna spoil the film for you but one of the big events at the end of the film makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and I completely don't buy it. But the script wants it to happen to make a certain impact, so it happens. The film would have been a lot better if the script wasn't so convenient and cliche.
The Verdict:
The Guardian may follow the Top Gun formula, but it does it well. It's far from perfect, but the subject matter and the film overall is entertaining. And that's all we should expect from popcorn films such as this. It may be cliche and contrived, but it never blatantly tries to insult your intelligence. The Coast Guard like firefighters are true heroes, and like firefighters, they have far two few movies made about them. It may be inept in parts, but the film really does try to do justice to it's subject.
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