The Bodyguard (1992)
Never let her out of your sight. Never let your guard down. Never fall in love.
Starring: Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, Gary Kemp, Bill Cobbs, Ralph Waite, Tomas Arana, Michele Lamar Richards, Mike Starr, Christopher Birt, DeVaughn Nixon, Gerry Bamman, Joe Urla, Tony Pierce, Charles Keating, Robert Wuhl
Director: Mick Jackson
Running Time: 124 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: 15
Drama, Romance, Thriller
On DVD Kevin Costner stars as Frank Farmer, a retired secret service man who is haunted by the fact that he wasn't on duty to protect President Reagan when he was shot at. Now he works as a bodyguard for high-profile clients, and has a reputation for getting the job done. When singer and actress Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) starts receiving threatening letters, her manager hires Farmer to supervise her protection. Rachel is a difficult client that fully justifies Farmer's preference not to work for celebrities, and his position is made more difficult because Rachel is being kept in the dark about the extent of the threat to her.
Farmer upsets the singer and most of her entourage with his demands for increased security. In time, however, the two start to reach an understanding and spend more time together. As they get to know one another they start an affair that Farmer immediately regrets the following morning. He feels that his behaviour was unprofessional and calls the whole thing off. But as the stalker strikes, Rachel starts to realise that Farmer's precautions were more than necessary and that she still needs his protection. Soon it becomes clear that the stalker is no madman but a professional killer who won't stop until the job is done.
Somehow, although almost everything about this film is substandard, taken together as a package it does work to a surprising extent. The plot is weak and full of holes, especially once it gets into explaining who hired the hitman. Kevin Costner's role is rather dull in both the writing and acting, and Whitney Houston sometimes cracks under the strain of her more emotional moments in this, her film debut. The soundtrack still contains one or two highlights, but the rest has dated and was always overly glitzy and commercial. Yet somehow this became one of the most successful movies of its year and it does have a charm that is hard to explain.
DVD Extras: No extras are included with this basic single disc release.
It's Got: A soundtrack including hits like 'I Will Always Love You' and 'I Have Nothing'.
It Needs: A much more convincing plot.
Alternatives: Someone to Watch Over Me, No Way Out, Final Analysis.
Summary: Superficial but pleasant romantic thriller that lacks substance but has a certain charm. It shouldn't work but somehow gets away with it.
Review by Andrea Chee
Review Date: 23rd July 2003
External Links
The Bodyguard at the IMDB
Comments1 Comment |
| Yeah I Think the Bodyguard was asesome in some areas. |
| Comment by:- Tianna | kol | 22 November 2004 | ip: logged |
