| Overall Grade: |
B |
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| Story: |
C |
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| Acting: |
B |
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| Direction: |
A- |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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The Only Thing Saving This Guardian Is A Prayer
by Eric (movies profile)
Oct 23, 2007
175
of
238 people found this review helpful
I was very surprised going into The Guardian that I would actually be writing good things about it. But then again, the same day I saw this movie, another movie that I was anticipating had deeply disappointed me, which only makes this movie's success even more interesting. It seems like since Top Gun, we've been given a movie about every branch of military service, most of which are not a credit to the men and women who serve them. For the Guardian, this happens to be a good movie, even though it tries to be at every turn.
The movie puts us with the U.S. Coast Guard Dive Team who go out to rescue people in the open waters along the coasts. We first meet Ben Randall (Kevin Costner), one of the most elite swimmers (and one of the oldest) on the job. During a rather nasty storm while he was trying to save a boatload of fishemen, his helicopter goes down, stranding him the North Baltic for five hours with a wounded friend who dies. Of course this means that he would have to be landbound for a while (and just to make sure we get it that this is traumatizing, he starts taking pills). So what will he do? He can train the new generation of divers (cue Up Where We Belong). From here until the last twenty minutes, it's all a repeat of An Officer and a Gentleman. Instead of Richard Gere, we have Ashton Kucher playing Jake, who has a huge chunk of ice on his shoulder (and yet he's still able to stay afloat in the water). We kind of get to know some other recuits, but it's Jake and Ben the movie is interested. What starts off as an adversarial relationship slowly becomes a mentorship which becomes a friendship. I don't think I'm spoiling anything to say that we get to see what young Jake learns from school, which are the scenes that pay off for the rest of the movie.
As mentioned before, the movie's script rips off from Gentleman more than a little, with dialogue so bland and cliche that I rolled my eyes enough times, people thought I was about to go into epiliptic fits. But the great moments come with some buildup. Like one of the other recruits which has a problem with panicing when being attacked in the water. When Jake finally shows him what to do, the scene that follows is predictable, but the aftermath is rewarding. And then there are the open water scenes, which are truly exciting.
This movie is a credit to the Coast Guard in involving us in one of the most difficult jobs I can imagine and in the most dangerous places. The movie respects that and doesn't merely try to cash in. We like these men and women and when we come out, we have a better understanding (although not a complete understanding, this is STILL Hollywood) of their profession.
The acting is decent, though not much to talk about. Costner still has it, which was refreshing to know after Rumor Has It. Kutcher isn't a complete joke (which for him is a compliment), and at least makes us feel he's taking his role seriously for a change. I must admit that I really enjoyed seeing Clancy Brown playing the Commander of the Alaskan Base in the movie, he's usally cast to be villans or rather unsavory types. He gets to show a more decent side for a change.
But this movie was almost entirely saved by director Andrew Davis, whose The Fugitive and Under Seige made his career. He's back to form in this movie after the sour Collateral Damage. He even tries some new techniques that pay off, such as one of the best training montages I have seen in the movies to date. And then he films the rescue scenes with an exciting pace and builds tension with ease. That's the sign of a great director.
All in all, The Guardian is a good movie to watch on a Saturday Night. It'll leave you feeling better about yourself, both in knowing that you had a good time and if you're ever caught in the sinking ship and there's only a few of you, you might make it out alive. |
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