The Guardian
Ok, ok, personally I'm not a big Ashton Kutcher fan. I think it's something about his whiny voice that instantanously makes me look the other way for everything he does. But for some reason he didn't bother me so much in this film, but I think that's because he's treated like a total bitch the entire movie.
The Guardian is a complex character study of rescue swimmers serving in the Coast Guard's search and rescue team. Focusing the film on people rather than their job is a smart move, because frankly search and rescue oriented action movies almost never work. Saving people just isn't as glamorous as we like to make it sound. Real heroes are nothing like Rambo or John McClane, they're quiet guys who simply go to work and get their job done.
Kevin Costner is one of those quiet guys, and he gets the job done better than almost anyone. He's the Coast Guard's mostly heavily decorated rescue swimmer, and though now long past forty he's still best of the best at what he does. When a rescue mission goes awry, wiping out his entire support team, he ends up questioning whether he's stayed on the job too long. Physically he's still up to the task, but have years of trauma and stress have taken their toll mentally on Costner.
To find the answer, his commander forces him to take a job as a trainer of new rescue swimmer recruits. Mixed in with his class is Ashton, but the film takes its time in making Fischer its focus. At first, except for a cocky smirk and the fact that he looks like Ashton Kutcher, Fischer sort of blends into the crowd. Usually a movie like this singles the special recruit out right away, but The Guardian just sort of drops hints, building and building on the character until somewhere about midway through the film he's fully front and center. Still, the script never fully abandons its team concept. Rescue swimmers have to rely on each other, and I like the way the movie continues paying at least some service to that philosophy throughout, even with the Coster/Kutcher Hollywood lineup.
As a way of getting to know exactly what it takes to do the dangerous jobs these guys do, The Guardian does a great job. If you're a member of the Coast Guard, you're probably going to throw out a few "Hell Yeahs" through the movie. But for the rest of us, though the characters and performances are strong, the film runs a little long and stays a little dry...even though 80% of the movie is soaked in water....
I like how character oriented it tries to be, but it almost goes overboard, spending too much time sitting around in bars knocking back beers, at tables sipping coffee, or in houses where Costner and Kutcher's characters banter with their women. Sure all that builds more into the characters, but at some point enough is enough. We get the picture, let's get this plot moving. Unfortunately, that IS the plot.
Final Thoughts: 6/10
As a documentary on the Discovery channel rescue swimming might be exciting, as a movie it's a little harder to keep my attention that long. Even though I'm not a big Kutcher fan or even a Costner fan, I felt the pairing of the duo was quite believable and didn't seem like a hokey Hollywood matchup.
Labels: 6/10, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Costner, The Guardian
