английский / The Bodyguard Movie Review
.docxThe Bodyguard Movie Review
Studio: Warner Home Video Genre: Drama Director: Mick Jackson Language: English Cast: Bill Cobbs, Gary Kemp, Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston
Plot Summary The Bodyguard is about an ex-Secret Service agent named Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) is hired to protect singer/actress Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston). Frank doesn’t really want to take the case, but Rachel needs his help. Rachel is being stalked by someone. Someone sends her letters in the mail. Someone is also trying to kill her and that is why Rachel needs Frank. While Frank protects Rachel, they don’t get along right away. After a while, they fall in love with each other. Frank is torn because he feels as if he can’t protect her if they are involved with each other. The Bodyguard also stars Bill Cobb (Devaney), Garry Kemp (Sy), Mike Starr (Tony), Tomas Arana (Porter), Michele Lamar Richards (Nikki), DeVaughn Nixon (Fletcher), etc. Whitney Houston is one of my favorite singers so I wanted to see her in her debut movie The Bodyguard. The movie was originally writer for Steve McQueen and Diana Ross. When Kevin Costner bought the rights to the movie, he picked Whitney Houston to play Rachel. His kids were big fans of hers and wanted her in the movie. I thought The Bodyguard had a pretty interesting story. It was a good combination of drama, romance, and mystery. I liked seeing Frank and Rachel fight their attraction to each other. They gave each other a hard time before they fell for each other. It was like a love/hate relationship. There’s also hidden drama brewing between Rachel and her sister Nikki. Nikki is clearly jealous of Rachel because Rachel became a star, but Nikki didn’t. She ended up working for her. Sy seems to be obsessed with Rachel having fame that he would stop at nothing to make sure that she was in the spotlight. Frank deals with drama of his own. He was a former Secret Service agent for President Reagan. I guess in this alternate universe, Frank is good enough that he can guard the president. Anyway, President Reagan was shot on a day that Frank wasn’t there for him. Something happened in Frank’s personal life that prevented him from watching him. There are also two mysteries in The Bodyguard. Someone is sending Rachel letters threatening to kill her. Someone is also stalking Rachel. The person broke into her house and she also received a spooky phone call from one of her stalkers. There’s a lot of things going on in the movie that keeps it from getting boring. I liked how The Bodyguard didn’t play the race card with the exception of one comment Frank makes to an African American chauffer. All of the roles could have been played by one race. Frank and Rachel are an interracial couple (Frank = Caucasian & Rachel = African American) and it was never a factor. Even when they have problems, their races were never a reason why things weren’t working out. In other movies, race would have been a factor. Someone would have had a problem with an interracial couple being together like that. I thought the writers did a good job with that. I thought Whitney Houston’s songs on the soundtrack were really good. She sang her heart out on the songs. One of the songs she sang was Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”. I have never heard Dolly Parton’s version so I can’t compare the two songs. I can say that I really liked Whitney Houston’s version of the song. The other songs she sang on the soundtrack were “Run To You”, “I Have Nothing”, “I’m Every Woman”, “Queen Of The Night”, and “Jesus Loves Me”. These songs were so great that I bought the soundtrack. There are other songs included on the soundtrack by Lisa Stansfield (“Someday (I’m Coming Back)” ), Curtis Stigers ("(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding"), Joe Cocker and Sass Jordan ("Trust in Me"), Kenny G and Aaron Neville ("Even If My Heart Would Break") as well as others, but I don’t listen to them. The acting in The Bodyguard wasn’t that great. I thought that Kevin Costner was wooden in his role. He seemed as if he didn’t really enjoy the role. I’m not sure if that was the way he was supposed to act, but that is the way he portrayed the role. Whitney Houston turned in a so-so performance. I didn’t expect her to be that great since it was her first movie. Her part wasn’t that hard because she played a singer who had a diva reputation. Anyone who is familiar with Whitney Houston knows she has a diva reputation. Whitney Houston was pretty much playing herself in the movie. The others didn’t really get to do much because the movie was basically about Frank and Rachel, but they were okay in their roles.
******SPOILER SECTION - THE NEXT TWO SECTIONS CONTAIN MAJOR PLOT DETAILS SO YOU CAN SKIP TO THE CONCLUSION SECTION IF YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN THE BODYGUARD BEFORE****** *BEGIN SPOILERS - I didn’t care for the reveal of the stalker/killer. One is just a stalker and is revealed early and the other one is a stalker and killer and barely in the movie. I was disappointed because neither one of them were linked to Rachel. You can also count up the number of scenes they had. There’s no way to know that the second stalker/killer could be a consideration. The only good thing about the second stalker/killer is that someone linked to Rachel hired the person. I would have been more satisfied if the person who hired the stalker/killer had turned out to be the one who did it. The person who hired the stalker had more of a reason to get hired. I also didn’t like the way Frank figured it out. He had no evidence against the stalker/killer other than a comment that was made about the stalker/killer by another person. Frank didn’t strike me as the especially brilliant type that would be able to figure that out as soon as he did, but I guess I was wrong. I think that there should have been more clues leading up to the stalker’s identity. *The ending to The Bodyguard leaves you hanging. It is never mentioned whether or not Frank and Rachel will stay together. The writers went out of their way to build a relationship with Frank and Rachel only to deny us an answer to whether they get together. I would have preferred to see them stay together or break up rather than have no answer at all. -*END SPOILERS In conclusion The Bodyguard is a good movie. It could have benefited from better acting and a better ending, but I would still recommend it.
Recommended: Yes