The Bodyguard (1992)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writer (WGA):

Lawrence Kasdan (written by)

Release Date:

25 November 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Drama | Thriller | Music

Tagline:

Never let her out of your sight. Never let your guard down. Never fall in love.

Plot:

A former Secret Service agent takes on the job of bodyguard to a pop singer, whose lifestyle is most unlike a President's.

Plot Keywords:

Bodyguard | Singer | Pop Singer | Entourage | Home

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Kevin Costner	...	Frank Farmer
Whitney Houston	...	Rachel Marron
Gary Kemp	...	Sy Spector
Bill Cobbs	...	Devaney
Ralph Waite	...	Herb Farmer
Tomas Arana	...	Portman
Michele Lamar Richards	...	Nicki
Mike Starr	...	Tony
Christopher Birt	...	Henry
DeVaughn Nixon	...	Fletcher
Gerry Bamman	...	Ray Court
Joe Urla	...	Minella
Tony Pierce	...	Dan
Charles Keating	...	Klingman
Robert Wuhl	...	Oscar Host

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) (re-rating) (2004) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | South Korea:15 | France:Unrated | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | UK:15 (cut) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

1038 Hill Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Kasdan Pictures

Trivia:

Crew driver Bill Vitagliano was killed in an on-set accident when he was crushed between two colliding scissor-lifts, during the preparation for an underground parking garage scene.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Frank puts Rachel to bed, he pushes all the dolls to one side. But when she's in bed there is still one doll sitting upright next to her.

Quotes:

[as Rachel heads towards the waiting paparazzi]
Frank: Is this really necessary?
Rachel: Quit bitchin', Farmer, this is the part you *do* get paid for!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Soundtrack:

Someday (I'm Coming Back)

The best bad movie ever

The Bodyguard is a movie with many flows and one redeeming factor: the WH factor. People went to see this picture because they wanted to see Whitney singing and she delivered some of her most passionate vocal performances before the mesmerised eyes of her millions of fans on the big screen. Let's face it, who wants to see her acting when she can sing so beautifully?

The unrelenting criticism by couch 'drama experts' of her acting seems a tad over the top. She never claimed to be an actress and despite this being her film debut, she did not disgrace herself. She did the best she could with what she was given: a patchy character with very little to say. What else could she do to play this role? Well, just what she did, sing her heart out.

The best thing that Kevin Costner did was to insist that Whitney was the only one he wanted for this part. He knew he had a winner, but he also tried to do too much with the story: a romantic thriller with patches of 'comedy', a study in professional-personal conflict and 'who done it' thrown in. That's the reason for the plot's erratic turns and the non existent character development. The glue that holds the whole mess together is Whitney, the singer, looking stunning and sounding like an angel.

This could have been a gigantic flop and instead it was a massive hit. It will remain a phenomenon in popular culture because it delivered what the vast majority of its audience wanted: escapism, a couple of hours away from their own reality and a look inside the glamorous life of a superstar. They were entertained by a great pop singer, who had made a huge video clip for her songs and they did not mind paying for the privilege. Those who hate The Bodyguard, went to see it with some unrealistic expectations of 'serious cinema and acting'?! Hey, go to see foreign movies with subtitles for that and come down from your pretentious cloud.