Netflix Review: The Guardian (2006)

Drop and Give me an Average Movie!

The Guardian (2006)

Suggested Netflix Queue Position: 96

It’s a natural human reflex to want to make up for a big mistake. It eats away at us until we somehow compensate for the pain our mistake caused.
Take the case of Kevin Costner, who’s trying to make up for 6 years of Hollywood mistakes. I’m talking about 1995 to 2001, when Costner subjected the American public (and the world, for that matter) to group of films that can best be described as cinematic kidney stones. We all passed them, but we’ll never forget them. Remember Waterworld, The Postman, Tin Cup, Message in a Bottle, For Love of the Game, Thirteen Days and 3000 Miles to Graceland?
I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you with that opening paragraph. I didn’t mean to reopen old wounds. I’m just trying to provide context to Costner’s latest attempt at atonement: The Guardian.
Costner plays Ben Randall, a legendary Coast Guard rescue swimmer whose numerous records in the Coast Guard's “A” school are surpassed only by his distinguished, heroic career. After a rescue incident, Randall is assigned to teach said “A” school.
Enrolling in the school is Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher), a hotshot, state champion swimmer. Fischer is talented and cocky. Gee, you think he’s going to learn a life lesson and grow up?
There isn’t much more to the plot. Randall has his own issues, including a failing marriage due to – guess what? – his commitment to the job.
This film can best be described as “average.” It certainly isn’t sufficient penance for Costner's 6 year assault on our sensibilities, but it also is a much better effort than any of those films. This is mostly because Costner, for reasons probably having to do with box office receipts and endless public and critical ridicule, seemingly no longer sees himself as a world savior or sports hero. That helps when you’re trying to relate to the public.
The Guardian is more predictable than an IRS deadline, which is why it receives a low queue position. But there are decent qualities to it. Costner’s acceptable performance as the conflicted Randall carries the film. He doesn’t see himself as too big for the screen, and seems to stay within himself. Kutcher, not much of an actor in his own right, is tolerable as the cocky upstart Fischer. The women in the film aren’t exactly carrying the banner for women’s rights. They’re the helpless wives/girlfriends you’d typically find in a movie like this.
The action sequences are fairly well shot: it’s easy to see what’s going on at all times, and they do build drama. The dialogue isn’t going to win any Oscars, but it’s serviceable.
If this review seems lukewarm, that’s because it is. When considering Costner films these days, one can’t avoid the considerable context that follows him. I suppose that will do him favors from here on out, but in fact he has paid for that – and then some. Unfortunately, so have we.