The Guardian Review
by samseescinema (sammeriam AT comcast DOT net)September 27th, 2006
The Guardian
reviewed by Sam Osborn
Director: Andrew Davis
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Costner
Screenplay: Ron L. Brinkerhoff
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (some politely implied sex scenes and frightening rescue sequences with some language)
Films so rarely give themselves space to breath. They constrict their running length to a bite-sized 90 minutes and rush a tale out as from a factory. The Guardian is by no means original, and it never wants us to believe otherwise. It's a genre film through and through, but it's a genre film that gives itself time. Two hours and fifteen minutes worth, in fact. And although 135 minute films are no surprise for Academy-luring dramas (and soon you'll hear us plea for shorter fare), a formula flick that's stretched to such lengths is worth mentioning.
Kevin Costner plays Ben Randall, an aging Coast Guard rescue swimmer married more to his job than his wife, Helen (Sela Ward). She's leaving him, packing away and moving from their home in Kodiak, Alaska to file divorce. Mr. Costner's playing his favorite hangdog here, graying and jaded with ineffable honor and that quiet, somber pride his characters always seem to grow into. And he's still young enough to play an action hero, as proven by the savory rescue sequences The Guardian mounts.
Filmed partly in massive, wave-making studios and partly with impressive CGI, these sequences manage to render the treacherous sea in horrifying detail. Costner's asked (or more likely Costner's stunt double is asked) to leap from an orange helicopter and navigate the mean, nasty sea until he can yank a flailing victim into a basket that's connected by wire to the hovering aircraft above. Director Andrew Davis succeeds in molding these rescue scenes into bracingly taut action sequences that don't involve the usual requisite combat. Isn't it refreshing when visceral excitement can be stirred up in the movies without the use of violence?
Anyway, on a particularly risky rescue, Ben insists upon entering the water despite requests from the control room to restrain. He's given five minutes to extract the victims and by the time five minutes has passed, Ben's helicopter has crashed and he's huddled in a lifeboat cradling the corpse of his best friend.
Now properly humbled and depressed, Ben is transferred to A-School to handle the training of the incoming students. Among them is Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher), a hotshot swimmer who turned down a volley of Ivy League scholarships to work in the Coast Guard. He's arrogant, foolhardy and headstrong: ideal for inspirational fodder. But The Guardian, as is its best trait, takes the appropriate time to inspire us. Ben and Randall are developed nicely, with quaint sub-plots to complement their stories and the obligatory confrontation followed by the grunt and jerky handshake.
Andrew Davis obviously has respect for the Coast Guard, and his scenes of training convince us of the institution's glory. Thankfully, he doesn't venture into patriotic territory, hyping up the organization as inspirational films about the Army or Marines often do. His respect lies mostly in awe of the Coast Guard process and the will it takes to survive in it.
A lot of doubt has been raised as to whether Ashton Kutcher, our favorite "Punk'd" legend, can pull off action hero. The answer is, why not? He's already proven he's a charmer of the easy, laid back sort, and proven he can eek out a dramatic role in The Butterfly Effect, so why can't he buff up enough to grimace in pain and shed a manly tear? So to answer to your doubts, Kutcher does just fine.
The Guardian is a big-huge genre film; one that plays its game and knows how to play it well. Few of its elements are exceptional-save for its rescue sequences-but they're solid and acceptable clichés to drive the story. And the story is full. It's full and well-navigated to spin one of the few rousing adventures told about the Coast Guard.
Rating: 3 out of 4
-Sam Osborn
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
