Synopsis for
The Guardian (2006/I) More at IMDbPro »

Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) is the best of the best, holding every swimming record imaginable at the Coast Guard Academy, as well as the most human life saves at sea. However, during one incident, he is the only survivor after his helicopter is forced down and crashes into the water during a rescue mission at sea. Ben is coping with the loss of his entire crew, and a divorce from his wife, when he is assigned to teach at the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers School. He doesn't want any other men to die during a rescue, so he uses his own training methods that put the new recruits through the toughest test they will ever encounter during a mission. After drastically reducing the number of recruits, Randall focuses on Jake Fisher (Ashton Kutcher), one of his most talented recruits and a former high school state swimming champion. Jake manages to break every single one of Ben's Coast Guard records, and achieves feats that impress all. After lengthy confrontations with Jake, Ben eventually discovers Jake joined the Coast Guard because he was the only survivor in a car accident that killed his high school swimming buddies, where he was the designated driver, and even though he blew a .00 and the accident was ruled not his fault, he still feels compelled to serve others. With Ben's training and Jake's dedication, Jake becomes the best of the best and Ben retires as. However, in one mission, Jake is attending to an ill-fated swimming vessel when things go awry and his helicopter is forced to abandon him due to a lack of fuel. Ben is the only individual available who has any rescue swimming experience, so he comes out of retirement to rescue Jake. Jake is trapped inside the vessel, debris covering the door and quickly running out of air. Ben rescues Jake and attaches themselves to Ben's line, to be pulled up to the helicopter. However, the rope starts to fray and almost breaks when Ben decides to cut himself loose from the rope, much to Jake's devastation. In Ben's honor, Jake continues to his rescue swimming duties. At the end, Jake rescues a man who swore he saw another rescuer holding onto his hand. Jake speculates it was Ben, now the Guardian of the sea.