The Guardian

Sammie Blanco

Period 5

The Guardian

Life is full of unexpected obstacles, changes, and experiences that shape people into who they are. In the movie, The Guardian released in 2006, an experienced rescue swimmer, played by Kevin Costner, connects with a high school swim champion, played by Ashton Kutcher, who struggles to be a team player while training to become a U.S Coast Guard rescue swimmer. These two characters are brought together when the high school swim champion attends the Coast Guard training school and the experienced rescue swimmer is given the choice between retiring and becoming an instructor at the training school after his rescue crew was in an accident during a rescue mission. The audience is brought on a journey of courage and friendship while these characters struggle to hold on to love while risking their lives “So Others May Live” (U.S Coast Guard Motto).

A good movie can be defined as many different things, such as having good acting, a strong plot, realistic effects, a powerful ending, and should connect with the audience. The Guardian utilizes all of these elements and creates a powerful story of two U.S Coast Guard rescue swimmers.

The Guardian is one of the most inspiring and powerful movies of today that tells the story of the lives of two U.S Coast Guard rescue swimmers and the challenges they face. Inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something (Google), and throughout this movie, the audience is inspired to face the challenges in their lives head on and not let their past hold them back from reaching their full potential.

The powerful acting of the entire cast of The Guardian accurately portrays the roles of U.S Coast Guard members and brings the plot to life. Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher become the heroic Coast Guard rescue swimmers and tell the true story of the real U.S Coast Guard heroes. Costner plays the conflicted rescue swimmer, Ben Randall, who is devoted to being a rescue swimmer, but struggles to maintain his marriage with his wife. Kutcher plays the role of Jake Fischer who is the cocky high school swim champ who is believed to be more interested in breaking records than actually saving lives. The emotion behind the acting pulls at the hearts of the audience and shows the true hardships of being a rescue swimmer. Costner and Kutcher act perfectly together and build off of each other’s acting abilities to bring the story to life.

The strong plot of this film brings the audience on an emotional journey of courage and devotion of U.S Coast Guard rescue swimmers. The movie begins with a voice over of a legend of a man who lives beneath the sea who watches over people on the sea and then jumps immediately into a rescue mission. The plot brings the main characters together at the U.S Coast Guard training school where they butt heads until the challenges each character are facing are uncovered. The heart pounding plot grasps the audience in a whirl of emotions and allows the audience to experience the emotions along with the characters. The breathtaking storyline tells of a U.S Coast Guard rescue swimmer’s challenges in life to save lives, as well as the struggles to hold on to the emotional relationships of the people they love.

Many movies have great storylines, but end with so many questions left unanswered. The Guardian, on the other hand, has both an amazing plot and doesn’t leave the audience with any unanswered questions about the story. Without giving away the ending, Kutcher and Costner keep the audience on the edge of their seats with each line. The suspense of the struggle between life and death continues from beginning to end and don’t fail to please the audience. The ending reaches out to the audience and leaves their hearts wanting more. Even after the plot has ended, the credits include pictures of real life members of the U.S Coast Guard and dedicate this entire movie to the heroes of the sea.

Some may believe that this two hour and twenty minute movie was too long and that the plotline wasn’t original. There are some people that think that there are multiple storylines within this one movie that don’t come together to create one storyline. It is true that there are elements of this movie that are similar to Top Gun or The Perfect Storm, making the plotline seem unoriginal and appear to be a recreation of those movies (IMDb). Even though these may cause some viewers to disagree that this is a good movie, many other people believe that it is an incredible film. The critics who thought that this movie was too long, it was found that The Guardian is as long as the average Hollywood movie, which is about two and a half hours long (Sciretta). In addition, there are several parts to the plot of this movie, but in some way they all overlap in the end. The main storyline of this movie is the journey through the training school and then into the actual rescue missions of the characters, and the separate parts of the story branch off of this main plot. Finally, many Hollywood movies have similar elements to each other, but each is still unique in its own way. The Guardian focuses on the lives of the main characters and follows them throughout the rescue swimmer training, as well as a few Coast Guard rescues, which hasn’t been evident in any other movie.

In conclusion, The Guardian was made as a tribute to all of the U.S Coast Guard members who risk their lives every day “So others may live”. This movie is inspiring and powerful that emphasizes the challenges of being in the U.S Coast Guard. A good movie has great acting, a memorable plot, and an ending that brings together all of the loose ends of the movie. The Guardian is an amazing movie that succeeds in reaching the emotions of the audience and making the audience feel that they are right there next to the characters. This incredible story of courage and friendship helps the audience want to reach their full potential and not live by the challenges in their past.

Works Cited

Google. 12 February 2012 google.com.

IMDb. 12 February 2012 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0406816/.

Sciretta, Peter. Slash Film. 12 February 2012 http://www.slashfilm.com/by-the-number-the-length-of-feature-films/.