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Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) has devoted his life to saving people. Though he’s well past the age when most men in his line of work move on to a desk job, he refuses to step down—much to the disappointment of his wife, Helen (Sela Ward), who, indirectly, has given her life to the Coast Guard, too. Tired of taking a back seat to her husband’s job, Helen packs her bags and leaves.
When Ben’s stubbornness on a mission costs the rest of his team their lives, he’s forced to take some time off—to train new recruits. At the school, tough-as-nails Senior Chief Randall bumps heads with cocky high school swim champ Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher), who seems to care more about breaking Randall’s records than actually learning to save lives. But what Randall doesn’t realize is that he and Fischer have a lot more in common than he’d like to admit.
With plenty of actual rescue footage, The Guardian is sure to give viewers a whole new respect for the Coast Guard. The story, however, is pretty formulaic action/drama. For the most part, it’s pretty obvious (if you’re paying attention, you’ll be able to predict a few lines toward the end of the movie), and it’s occasionally overdone. But that’s to be expected.
Instead of being introduced to a group of characters who bond throughout the movie, viewers only really get to know two: Randall and Fischer. Even though Costner’s gotten a bad rap for the past decade or so (the poor guy will never be allowed to forget Waterworld), he can still act. The problem, however, is that his character isn’t really likeable. While he’s dedicated to his job—and to saving the lives of strangers—he just isn’t a very nice guy. Call him a tough guy with a heart of gold if you want to. But it’s hard to overlook the way he treats the people around him. And though you do get to know him a little better by the end of the movie, it’s just not enough. Kutcher, however, is a bigger problem. Drama just isn’t his thing. And, on top of that, he has to play a character who instantly reminds you of the captain of the high school football team—the guy who thought of nothing but himself, the head cheerleader, and, perhaps, his hair. Kutcher tries to be Tom Cruise in Top Gun (complete with the aviator glasses)—but, despite the fact that I think that Tom Cruise is crazy (and of questionable acting talent), Ashton Kutcher is still no Tom Cruise.
I really wanted to like The Guardian. It has a wonderful premise, and the action scenes are fascinating (though there aren’t as many as you might expect). But for a movie that’s well over two hours long, there’s just too little story and too much tough-guy ego—and, as a result, it’s not as compelling as it could have been.
