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It’s like the book on your shelf that does not seem to have any use. You do not read them. In fact, you do not even cast a single look at it. From time to time, it works as a bookend to arrange the other books that you read quite frequently. But it surely is the type of book that no matter how hard you want to throw it out, you are not able to do so. It is always there.
In a nutshell, this is the plot of “The Guardian,” the most recent action movie by Andrew Davis of “The Fugitive,” where the leading role is played by Kevin Costner as the grumpy and sore, traumatized instructor, and Ashton Kutcher is the hotshot student eager to prove himself.
Considering how picky the audience is, the basic subject of the movie is something quite common, so now the task is to find a special niche’ for “The Guardian,” and in all honesty, the only thing I found that was different was the pivoting on the U. S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers. In my research, I have tried and tried, but cannot think of any other films portraying this concept. So, yes, there is some originality present.
The reality is that this movie has nothing else to offer. Every element of the plot seems lifted from other books and movies, usually superior ones, and is written by Ron Brinkerhoff who also did ‘D-Tox.’ While watching ‘The Guardian’, scenes from ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’, ‘Annapolis’, and the current ‘Flyboys’ present themselves as well as a large number of other teacher/mentor movies from other genres of film.
In ‘The Guardian’, Costner plays the role of Ben Randall, an overachieving rescue swimmer in the US Coast Guard who falters when he endures an emotionally painful ordeal. To restore his value and reputation, his superiors place him in training school where he meets the outstanding swimmer Jake Fischer, an Alpha male with issues of his own that makes his life a little easier.
The correct formula has been selected. The film captures what is literally an unmixed collision of education and saving lives, depicting how conflicts are resolved within the pregnant pauses. There is plenty of action in the movie like learning how to be proficient at rescuing and the most thrilling part of all is the artificial ending which allegedly should give happiness.
Indeed, there are some love stories that are obligatory… if there is one for Costner, Sela Ward is cast in the role of his love story sideline these days (How many long-suffering wives has she had by now?), and on the other hand, Kutcher is playing alongside Melissa Sagemiller, who is sizzling enough to turn a hot tub’s temperature up to 65 degrees.
Instead of moving to other sources for information and reviews about “The Guardian,” let me remind you that the movie is actually not that difficult to understand. This movie is indeed doubly competent, just as Davis’s adds a handful of zest to the water rescues which makes them entirely entertaining albeit predictable. It is a strange action film when the most action happens in the interactions between the films exhausted protagonist and even more exhausted wife. The interactions in the film which has Costner and Ward showing us much more than what makes sense and authenticity which is more than any of the other action films and the effortless screenplay made by Brinkerhoff. “The Guardian” makes it seem as if the never ending midlife cinematic struggle of Costner is coming to an end which is the single most important reason to see the movie. He gets into the psyche of Randall that makes you think Brinkerhoff had his head buried to the goods and was astonished.
The same unfortunately cannot be said about Kutcher. He just does not have the requisite experience or genius to dig deep into the psyche of his character. Instead he is reduced to flexing his great abs and does a poor man’s Tom Cruise in his portrayal which often comes off as a slightly above average Top Gun. Is it useful for the film? Yes. Will it be a performance people remember? Absolutely not.
The supporting characters in the film really show off once again the experiences with Ward capturing his role, and with Sagemiller… At least she’s hot. Sagemiller’s acting will surely make you look up Debra Winger.
The production design for “The Guardian” is just around excellent, nothing thart remarkable or creative. Even with new horizons in water rescue, this film is very often boring and cliche. Quite often, I caught myself saying, “same scene, different location.” There is nothing egregiously wrong here, but there is nothing enduringly right either. Considering that the movie is 136 minutes in duration, the linearity of this movie is about to become one of the distractors.
Most likely Costner and Kutcher supporters will have no reason to back the film. And while it’s not particularly great, there’s also so little that it can’t be called a bad movie.
The Guardian is just what it is. “The Guardian” is an uncomplicated, unsurprising and formulaic action movie with rather strange and things looking around with “painted” relationships and the expectable happy but disappointed ending. This movie provides even more evidence that rest Costner is still useful and reliable and this is the proof that Kutcher has so far to go to become that.
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