Name of Film: The Guardian (2006, Andrew Davis)
I like surprises. Particularly surprising movies. So when I went to see The Guardian, you can imagine how happy I felt when I walked out of the cinema! To explain; I honestly didn't expect much from this flick. It seemed generic, a touch cliched and...well...it had Aston Kutcher in it. On the plus side - I thought - it does have Kevin Costner in it, and he used to be a consistently good actor. At least until he proved us wrong with Dragonfly...
Basically, it plays out exactly as the trailer promises. Old, professional Coastguard burns out, and goes to teach newbie Coastguards in order to level himself back out again. One newbie is a high-school swim champion with a tormented past, and old guy takes him under his wing. It's shallow and - excuse the pun - a mite soggy, but hey, whatever works right? This wasn't exactly the aspect that caught me off guard.
What did surprise me is twofold; first, the strength of the core performances. Much to my disbelief, Kutcher actually is vaguely convincing as Jake Fischer; just about managing to pull off the damaged, false bravado that is prefectly appropriate to the character. And Kevin Costner is certainly back to form as the just-as-damaged-but-in-a-different-way old burn-out, Ben Randall. And there's something between them, and almost tangible spark that adds a decent edge to the tried-and-tested old-guy/newbie relationship.
There's also a fantastic sense of humour throughout the movie - though obviously it's not the main focus - and it makes the occasional moment of awkward dialogue almost un-noticable. And the supporting cast, while never truly outstanding, are all solid, with Sleeper Cell's Melissa Sagemiller being the best of the bunch as Fischer's love interest.
Second is the confidence of the action sequences. They're very well done, with Davis - along with cinematographer Stephen St. John - giving them all a sense of urgency that many generic actioners of this type lack. It also seems that both Costner and Kutcher did as many of their stunts as they possibly could, and this further adds to the reality of the whole thing. There's something about knowing that the actors are actually doing these crazy stunts that makes you care more about their character. There're two scenes of particular note, and these both happen in cramped surroundings, and Davis imbues them with a true sense of claustrophobia that adds fantastically to the tension naturally present in a scene where the water's coming in and you've got nowhere to go.
This is also one of the movie's inherent problems - which is unfortunate to say the least. The problem being that Davis uses this claustrophobic style throughout the movie, and it gives the dialogue sequences a strange feel to them - despite the above-mentioned spark between Costner and Kutcher - almost like your barging in on a conversation you weren't meant to, and this really doesn't help. Also, Jake's back story is really badly misplaced; it probably would have been better if we knew that he was damaged, just not why he was. But these are minor niggles really.
Still, as a fun piece of cinema that is both tense and entertaining, it works really rather well. It is a touch on the long side - two hours, ten minutes more or less, if you're interested - but not quite in the 'arse-numbing' territory, and if you're patient enough, they'll just fly by. It's by no means a masterpiece, but if you've got nothing better to see - like if you've already seen The Departed - then this is as good a film as any to fill the time. Definitely worth a look!
Rating Out of 10: 7