the fresh films reviews

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The Bodyguard (1992)

Director:
Mick Jackson

COUNTRY
USA

Genre
Romance/Thriller
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Bodyguard

RUNNING TIME
129 minutes

Producer:
Kevin Costner
Lawrence Kasdan
Jim Wilson

Screenwriter:
Lawrence Kasdan


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Frank Farmer Kevin Costner ½
Rachel Marron Whitney Houston
Sy Spector Gary Kemp
Bill Devaney Bill Cobbs ½
Herb Farmer Ralph Waite ½
Nicki Marron Michele Lamar Richards
Tony Scipelli Mike Starr ½
Fletcher Marron DeVaughn Nixon -

 

Review

This blockbuster capitalized on the peak of Whitney Houston's career as a pop phenomenon and Kevin Costner's sudden rise to box-office number one in the wake of Dances With Wolves. The film was a huge success back in 1992, but hasn't stood the test of time well. It's intended to be a romantic thriller of sorts, but all the thriller elements are oversimplified, most of the characters are one-dimensional, and the so-called romance is out of the blue and not accounted for, making it feel uneasy at best and outright cringeworthy at worst. There's no indication as to why these two people would fall for each other, other than the fact that they have the likenesses of Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, who were seen as good-looking by contemporary audiences. It's a remarkably lazy directing job by Mick Jackson from one of a series of poor Lawrence Kasdan scripts of the 1990s – marking Kasdan's steep decline from his streak of brilliant films in the preceding decade. That is Gary Kemp of New Romantic pop sensation Spandau Ballet playing Houston's manager – a performance which could have been interesting with a more refined script. Costner's character, on the other hand, has got no distinguishing characteristics whatsoever.

Copyright © 01.01.2021 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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