An Officer and a Gentleman - A classic. Top Gun - A blockbuster. G.I. Jane- A memorable film. Buena Vista’s The Guardian- none of the above. If studios are gonna continue to make films about a subject matter that has been covered numerous times before, at the very least, bring something new to the table.

Kevin Costner comes back to the big screen playing yet another emotionless character that puts his personal life on hold to prevail in his professional life. This time, he plays Ben Randall, a living legend in the US Coast Guard. After losing his entire team in a freak accident, he is given two options. Live life as a civilian or teach a training academy full of wanna be rescue swimmers. One such wanna be is Jake Fisher (Ashton Kutcher), a hot shot former swim star looking to make a name for himself saving lives. Both men are the same, causing friction from the start. Jake wants to break all of Ben’s records and Ben wants to see Jake put his own ego aside to focus on the reality that he may one day have to choose who lives or dies.

Like I said before, nothing new was brought to the table here. This film is chock full of clichés, mediocre acting, and predictable conclusions. I have seen this exact film dozens of times. I predicted how this film would end midway through. For this reason, the conclusion did not touch me at all. To be quite honest, I didn’t care. There was a lot of back story between the two main characters that was suppose to make us feel touched, but didn’t work on me. Costner’s character was not complicated, nor interesting to me. Kutcher’s character was just plain annoying.

The end credits featured photos of real life rescue guards. Another ploy by the filmmakers to have audiences crying in the aisles. Didn’t work at the screening I attended. Maybe I’m just a heartless beast. Maybe I’m just a film lover who’s sick of filmmaker manipulation. Let the emotion come organically through good character development and a great script. The real men and women who risk their lives daily deserve a better tribute than this film.

by Thomas Ferguson