Directed by: Mick Jackson
Starring: Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, Gary Kemp, Bill Cobbs
Frank Farmer (Costner) is a former Secret Service agent hired as a bodyguard for Rachel Marron (Houston), a singer/actress receiving threatening letters from a kook. The bodyguard is more Rachel's manager's idea, so Rachel isn't thrilled with Frank lurking around and cramping her style. Frank makes terse suggestions on how Rachel can better be protected, which may include not putting herself out in public during the height of Oscar campaign season. This doesn't sit well with Rachel's publicist (Kemp), who resents Frank also. No wonder Frank seems so morose all the time.
The best scenes in The Bodyguard in which we see Frank ply his craft. He is an expert and knows his stuff, which is usually interesting to watch. The worst scenes are the ones in which Frank and Rachel inevitably fall in love...if that is what you want to call it. There isn't much chemistry between them, so we wish the movie never went there. The big erotic scene involves a samurai sword, which is not the first item I think of in the world of erotica.
In her film debut, the late Whitney Houston sings two songs which earned Oscar nominations ("I Have Nothing" and "Run to You"). She was a much better singer than actress. There is something about her screen presence which is too restrained and too invulnerable for us to care much about her. She is so strong-willed and combative that we can't transition when she turns into a frightened target of a would-be killer. Poor Frank seems like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. It seems he can't forgive himself for not being on duty the day Ronald Reagan was shot and the explanation as to why he wasn't there is more than understandable. The guy just seems so solemn for such a silly reason.
The movie perks up briefly when Frank discovers the true nature of Rachel's stalker and we learn of the family dynamic which caused it. But then Rachel is nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and everything flies off the rails. The Academy Awards ceremony is so unintentionally funny that it derails the film at what is supposed to be its most suspenseful point. This is the Oscars for C-listers. Robert Wuhl (who co-starred with Costner in Bull Durham) is the host, while presenters include last year's Best Actor Oscar winner Tom Winston from "South of Waco". At least Debbie Reynolds deigned to show up for a cameo so brief that if you blink you will miss her. And what about the big-busted hottie who won the Oscar for Sound? Even Wuhl couldn't pass up the opportunity to remark on her. Yes, the Oscars are a howl and the movie ends happily enough, which means Rachel and Frank don't get together.
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