2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #9
by Xavier E. Palacios
"The Bodyguard"
4 out of 5
Directed by Mick Jackson
Rated "R"
Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner), a stoic, unsocial, and esteemed veteran bodyguard, is hired to protect the mega-superstar singer and actress, Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston), from a mysterious stalker who threatens her and her family's life. While enhancing her daily security and protecting his client during her Oscar campaigning and concerts, Frank gets to know Rachel better, as well as her son, Fletcher (DeVaughn Nixon), her sister, Nikki (Michele Lamar Richards), and her management crew. Though initially the titular bodyguard and the starlet's opposing personalities keep the pair respectful but displeased with one another, they slowly fall in love, against their better judgement. All the while, Rachel's stalker never ceases his hunt, and the threat that either she or Frank may not survive this predator grows as strong as their affection for each other.
I have been meaning to watch this chick-flick classic of the 1990s, whose highly romanticized premise has long made me question the piece's quality and entertainment for my tastes, for a funny little reason. In the middle of my university years, thanks to some egregious and unforgiveable administrative screwups that permanently and negatively affected the course of my academic and post-graduate careers, I was forced to take a course that wound up giving me no graduation credit. A speech making class. As I had long been a stage actor by that point, the course was a piece of cake. The class was filled with very friendly freshman, including a young man who, because of his heavily accented Eastern European name, went by the nickname, "Momo".
Unfortunately, my memory has faded on the exact details of his family's origin, so I shall not recount specifics that are likely inaccurate, but Momo recounted to us that much of his extended family perished during a 1990s conflict in that region of the world. My recollection very much wishes to say the location was in the former Yugoslavia and thus he was referring to the Yugoslav Wars. Hearing and being in the presence of such solemness touched my heart greatly. After we sat down and chatted at the campus café one time, the good-hearted Momo and his family's history would influence the backstory for the protagonist of my space opera adventure drama, Cosmos.
Our second assignment in the course was to construct and deliver an informative speech. All we had to do was deliver a speech that described something; anything. Being the nerd I was, (well, still am, but who is counting?), I decided I wanted to give the class a crash course in the animation process. I do not begrudge my motivations. Innocently, I really wanted to share my love of the medium and showcase the magic of the art I loved; I wanted to reach out to others. Still, comically, I took what was supposed to be a simple assignment and made a bit of a mountain out of a mole hole hill. I was successful, but my speech was too densely structured, a little too complicated, and, given the context, too ostentatious to have really worked.
Shortly after my delivery, another student took her place in front of the class at the podium. She did not speak as well as I did, but her voice, pacing, and vocal character was much more natural and less convoluted than mine. If memory serves me right, she wore something much snappier than I did, like a kind of black, sharp office get-up that complimented her dark Black skin. I think she was also taller than me, or at least I felt so at the time.
While I took the buttoned-up collared approach to the assignment, this student did the required bare minimum and, unlike me, saved herself a lot of trouble; not to mentioned deliver a better speech than mine. Like a fangirl, she humbly described the premise and value of what I believe she said was her favorite film: 1992's The Bodyguard. Her simplistic enthusiasm and sincere descriptions won me and the class over. Ever since then, I always told myself I needed to watch this film so I could have a complete picture of my classmate's speech; see how her regard for the piece matched up against mine.
When I say The Bodyguard is a classic of the '90s, I mean to say that the flick is one that remains in people's minds long after that decade. High-quality or artistic merit is not part of that equation. While I hold no ill will towards that fellow student's tastes, I did know of the film's lovestruck gimmick and was not sure if the tale's telling would vibe with me. Reading that the second most financially successful film of 1992 was panned by contemporary critics, was nominated for several "Worst" titles at the Raspberry Awards (golly, how I despise them), and remains in the academic and "film buff" mind as a "So-Bad-It's-Good" movie, I was not exactly sure what I was getting into when I started the film.
I am very happy to say that all those critics are wrong. I really enjoyed The Bodyguard! Kevin Costner and the Whitney Houston are bad actors who have no chemistry in this flick? Preposterous! One of the best "bad" films ever? Speaking as someone who finds artistic merit in 1997's Batman and Robin, I can say, with absolute certainty, that description is complete nonsense! Melodramatic hogwash? Not hogwash, but definitely melodramatic in a good way! What is the point of pretentiously referencing director Alfred Hitchcock's famous quote, "What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out", if filmmakers cannot make and audiences cannot enjoy and embrace the fantasy and entertainment of such a style? If not for a few minor but crucial details I wish were developed further in the film, I actually had a mind to give The Bodyguard a rating of 4.5 out of 5-stars! Maybe I have always been into romantic chick-flicks like this one more than I ever understood, but I honestly really got sucked into and cared for this picture!
An artistic side note that has barring on The Bodyguard. Last cinematic year, after I watched Schindler's List for the first time, I had several thoughts as the credits rolled. The one that first slipped past my lips was the idea that the film exemplified the notion that the 1990s, contrary to academic and internet opinion and creeds, may be the best cinematic decade. This comment came from a statement by Brad Bird, one of my all-time favorite and most influential filmmakers, who rightly said the 1970s was the greatest decade for film. Considering Rocky and the original Star Wars came out within six months of each other, his words are hard to argue. Yet, in continuing Bird's ideas to better understand and appreciate the art form's existence and potential, the feeling that the '90s is another greatest contender has grown on me.
I admit to some prejudice on that perspective by being born smack-dab in the middle of the '90s. I would also be a darn fool for thinking the '90s was perfect. After all, the worst of the '80s beget the worst of the '90s, and that decade beget the worst of the 2000s, and so on. Some of the absolute peak definitions, cliches, and standards of awful, insincere, shallow, and unentertaining cinema are showcased in this decade. The ambitious, spellbinding escapist works of the early 2000s did not exist in this decade, (or at least were not as well made). The emotional maturity and cultural complexities of recent works like Everything Everywhere All at Once, not to mention any works that starred non-White CIS men, were darn near impossible back then. I do not have on any rose-tinted glasses when I say this statement, and I reiterate that the world is better off for having moved past the '90s.
Yet I cannot deny the mounting evidence that the '90s had such unparalleled works the general public still talks about; they have elements I miss in today's cinema. Even films that were initially dismissed have been reevaluated more positively, and the decade's disasters, failures, and mixed bags tend to be more interesting to consider than most films like them in the following decades. To quote Matt Draper in his video essay, "The Truth About '90s Horror: Was It Really That Bad?", this imperfect decade had such an abundance of "incredible variety that prevented homogenization". This era felt more experimental and freer than today's Hollywood, and thus came some glorious pieces. I could go on and on with a long, drawn-out list of such works, but, instead of me lecturing, I encourage anyone curious to go seek out and research '90s films themselves; continue the analysis independent of me.
I bring up this topic because The Bodyguard showcases an element I miss finding commonly in today's cinema: a sense that I am watching a sincere story in a big-budget film that does not have violence as the main draw, multi-media franchise plans, or arthouse ambitions that is made for general audiences and about, well, people. The idea that a film like The Bodyguard could be released today, a chick flick with a humble star-power, an original script for adults, romantic and thriller details, an unassuming tone, a score by the esteemed Alan Silvestri, and no CGI effects that is embraced by the public feels practically impossible. The Bodyguard shows that what the '90s may often have lacked in grand visions this cinematic era made up for with films that were easily accessible for just about anyone. The result here of such a style is a really entertaining piece that is not without thematic impact.
Kevin Costner is not an actor I think too much of, yet he works remarkably well here. He gives Frank Farmer a guarded, quiet, and straight-forward attitude, showing him to be an embattled, even injured, bodyguard. The film's editing, led by Donn Cambern and Richard A. Harris, help set the audience into his constantly calculating, watchful, and lonely mind. Thankfully, the film is not without humor, either in well-done jokes or charming flirting, and takes itself with the appropriate level of seriousness. So, Frank is not a stick-in-the-mud, and a real fella. I was positively taken aback by his professional and grim nature which perfectly contrasts and compliment's Whitney Houston's simply shining and intoxicating screen persona.
Though she is really just playing an alternate version of herself, even if I had never heard of Houston before I would still find her performance as solid, believable, and likeable as the rest of the film. She gives Rachel Marron a sparkling sense of joy, independence, power, and solitude I did not expect to care about as much as I did. Regarding characterization and storytelling significance, she does not play second-fiddle to her bodyguard, the titular protagonist. Just as I can see why Rachel would fall for the respectful, real, and honest man like Frank, I easily believed why he would break the obvious, cardinal rule of his profession and fall in love with her.
The screenplay, conceived and written by Lawrence Kasdan, (who took George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's visions for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Raiders of the Lost Ark and gave them proper, screenplay form), is not just entertaining as a romantic thriller. There is wooing, heartbreak, and kissing. Close-calls, suspense, and great locales. Interesting dialogue, solid pacing, and good side characters. On that last note, I really like Rachel's crew, (I have a soft spot for the big, dumb, and loyal bodyguard, Tony), and Frank's interactions with her likeable son, Fletcher: elements that help give the film a good heart. The answer as to who is truly Rachel's stalker is very satisfying and original.
Yet I was, and remain, most interested in how Frank and Rachel's characterization and relationship reflects the film's deeper ideas. The pair get to know each other like real people, and the course of their romance makes sense. I especially like them discussing Yojimbo ordinarily, and the fact that Frank, somewhat dorkily, has seen the film many times. Their conversations show just how much they have carefully constructed their personas for deeply personal reasons. Frank, the untouchable and invincible guard. Rachel, the glamorous starlet with the world at her fingertips. While these pieces of their identities are not false, they mask the fact that they are, in fact, isolated people who are too smart and habitual to become anything different. Well, most of the time: they do fall in love, after all.
The pair's romance explores themes of yearning for protection and certainty in one's life and other people. The feeling of purpose in being a guardian for someone and the troubles that come with that satisfaction. The weight of regrets that affect how one exists amongst others. The risks and potential peace in sharing and earning trust. Rather than a tale of a pop star and her bodyguard falling in love for the sake of romantic fantasy, The Bodyguard is about two adults who know how the real world works and yet, unable to completely let down or keep up their guards, find someone they can completely be themselves around; as with all the great romances, there is enough pain and good times to go around in such a trapping.
Such interesting storytelling also evolves from a clever twist on this romantic archetype: the two have their inevitable night of intimacy in the middle of film, not near the end, and deal with the fallout even as their relationship evolves. Through Frank and Rachel, the film's dramatic question becomes whether or not one can really get everything they need in the world. In perfect bitter sweetness, the answer is, sadly, no, yet I wish the truth were otherwise. Golly, I saw the 2018 screening of Aladdin at the Music Box theater in Chicago: one of the happiest nights of my life and one of the greatest theater experiences I have ever had. I imagine seeing The Bodyguard in that venue with such a rapturous audience of fans would garner a similar kind of exhilaration, and that idea is nothing to dismiss.
However, as entertaining and personalized as this picture is, there is one element I wish was more present. I wanted more from Frank and Rachel's relationship. Now, there is enough to satisfy me, and the fact they have to be and are naturally limited in their intimacy as they try to decide who they are to each other makes for great and less generic drama. But, with those noted themes, I feel there is more to explore in this story. For example, when Frank brings Rachel and her family to hide with his father at a remote lakeside cabin, the patriarch recounts how Frank, previously on the secret service, continuous to regret his failure to protect the megalomaniac, err, President Regan on the day he was shot . . . because Frank was too busy burying his mother. Meanwhile, Rachel feels like someone who carries a very dark past which propels her to obsessively tend to her perfect public façade and assure she, a free spirit, gets the most out of this world. Fletcher, (I love him learning to ride a real boat given his interest in them), was born out of another relationship.
Yet the audience is never told anything more about that time in her life, nor does Frank ever talk to Rachel about his mother. I enjoyed the film so much I would not have minded there being twenty more minutes simply exploring more of the pair's internal struggles and understanding more of their secrets. Such questions go unanswered. Additionally, I did not care for the film glossing over a tragedy in the third act involving Nikki. I feel brushing past such a monumental event was uncharacteristic of the otherwise smart writing. While these criticisms do not come close to damaging the film, I feel addressing them could have strengthened the writing of an already strong piece.
The Bodyguard is another example of how there is great cinema all around us, even when opinions say otherwise. The picture is entertaining, well-crafted, and emotionally resonant in all the right ways a film should be. I love the romance, melodrama, story development, the cast, the filmmaking, the music (even the overly played and parodied Whitney Houston rendition of "I Will Always Love You", like hearing "Eye of the Tiger" in Rocky III, feels brand new here), the old school entertainment, and the piece as a whole. Imagine if I never listened to my fellow classmate from all those years ago and missed out on this flick? What a loss that would have been. When all the hollow CGI franchise spectacles based on intellectual properties or homework arthouse movies dry up and leave me uninspired, there will always be these grounded, less violent, and heartfelt films like The Bodyguard to make me enjoy cinema again.