31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding, July 18, 2004
When this movie first came out the critics panned it mercilessly and frankly I just can't understand why. I thought it was fabulous. Kevin Costner plays an ex-Secret Service agent hired to protect a spoiled, difficult to get along with diva receiving death threats. Whitney Houston portrays the spoiled starlet to perfection. The chemistry and interplay between Houston and Costner was electric. The music in the movie was also great.
There are really some key elements that made this movie extremely good. First, I thought the acting was top notch by all involved. The supporting cast really played their characters well, as did the stars. Secondly, the editing was outstanding. The movie and plot move along at a fast pace. There is not a dull moment in the entire movie. And finally, the plot was plausible (for the most part) and the mystery - who is the hit man - slowly reveals itself. Having watched the movie several times, there a several foreshadowings.
Overall I found it a most entertaining movie both as a mystery, a thriller, and love story.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A special movie!, March 10, 2006
"You can be as you choose to be. It takes some discipline but it can be done."
I first saw The Bodyguard in a hot summer day. I waited in a long queue for my ticket and the theatre was fully packed. Tired and frustrated, I could not enjoy the film but it grew in me over time. It was different experience when I saw it again. In fact, The Bodyguard is a serious, original and very well told story. Love can be as real as me, sitting and writing here, and still be impossible and bitter-sweet. I can relate to this. Don't we all go through it at list once in our lifetime?
I love Kevin Costner's performance as Frank Farmer. I find him very convincing in the skin of this tough, self-disciplined guy with a heart of gold. I admire Kevin's portrayal of Frank's emotional torment when he had to choose between his duty and his heart. Whitney Huston is surprisingly good and her enormous musical talent makes up for her lack of acting experience.
The Bodyguard has it all: action-packed scenes, cool lines, pearls of wisdom, tender loving and fantastic soundtrack! This film is definitely worth your time.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Or as I like to call it, Before the Fall..., October 25, 2008
Stars fade, in time. But, at the summit of her talents and her popularity, Whitney Houston was simply untouchable, a singing phenom and, lord, was she lovely. Being so photogenic, it was a natural that she dip her toe into cinema. Whitney made her film acting debut in 1992's THE BODYGUARD, starring opposite Kevin Costner, who himself at the time was riding on a film career high, coming off
Dances with Wolves - Extended Cut (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) and
JFK - Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition).
Costner plays Frank Farmer, an ex-Secret Service agent who now hires out as a private bodyguard. Frank's vocation requires him to live a solitary, almost austere life. He doesn't stay too long at any one assignment for fear of forming attachments to the people he safeguards. Considered the best, Farmer is tapped to protect music and film superstar Rachel Marron, who is being relentlessly stalked. Farmer reluctantly takes on the gig and immediately clashes with the spirited and temperamental Rachel, who rails at the restrictions Farmer places on her lifestyle. And, because the long-proven cinematic formula dictates that the intensity of the leads' initial mutual dislike is adversely proportioned to how heated the romance becomes, well, the sparks fly brightly between the stoic bodyguard and the tempestuous diva.
THE BODYGUARD, in 1992, was a box office moneymaker, undoubtedly helped by the spectacular soundtrack, but also because, in its own right, it's a decent thriller and an effective and bittersweet romantic story. The action sets are nice, my favorite being the "We won't talk about this again" kitchen discourse, although that was more of a one-way conversation from Frank. The hook is undeniably the prickly interaction between the two leads. I would think that a bodyguard, by necessity and by definition, would need to blend into the background. As such, Costner's bodyguard tends to be understated and very controlled. But every now and then, the actor's low key charisma does get a chance to leak out, as Farmer cracks a half-smile or three or makes the occasional straight-faced one-liner. And by having his character this impassive and guarded, Costner allows his female lead to shine. And Whitney's Rachel Marron certainly has that large personality.
Casting Whitney Houston was a stroke of genius and luck. In that time and place, who better to play the most popular pop star than the real deal herself? I thought that Whitney was a natural on screen, although critics shaved points off because, supposedly, she was only playing herself. But do you think a non-singer could've pulled off the musical sequences with as much conviction and credibility? Whenever she sang, Whitney Houston was in her element, and I totally bought into it and, consequentially, everything else that came with the role. And, lest you think she's a one trick pony, she would show even more of her acting chops in
Waiting to Exhale and
The Preacher's Wife.
There's this thing which Rachel's jerk of a manager tells Frank as he dresses him down: "I mean, look, she's so hot right now. This is her time. If she doesn't get out there, she's dead... If she doesn't sing, she's dead, anyway." This, coming from a tool, nevertheless is a stark commentary on the ephemeral quality of stardom. THE BODYGUARD has lost a bit of its luster down the years as Whitney's star waned. Not because she suddenly sucked or anything, but her troubled personal life did get in the way of her performing and producing records (thanks a bunch, Bobby Brown!).
And, since misery loves company, Kevin Costner, after a string of film successes, would soon churn out A PERFECT WORLD, THE WAR, and the career-crippling WATERWORLD (which I actually thought was a cool flick).
The key song was originally going to be "What Becomes Of A Broken Heart?" And who knows what Whitney would've done with that torch song (but it would've been great). As it is, we instead end up getting the fabulous remake of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You." I eventually got sick of this song, because of the constant airplay, but I remember how well it framed the closing moments of the film.
Another thing I dug: Costner's white, Houston's black. This wasn't even a factor in the movie. How cool is that?
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