Susan Granger’s review of “The Guardian” (Touchstone Pictures)
If you saw the harrowing aerial/sea heroics during Hurricane Katrina, you witnessed the daring, often unheralded work of U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers, who rescued or evacuated an estimated 33,520 people in the Gulf States. They courageously go out during the most treacherous storms in service to their motto: “So that others may live!”
After renowned Rescue Swimmer Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) emerges as the sole survivor of a deadly crash in which his best friend/partner perished – and his long-suffering wife (Sela Ward) asks for a divorce – he’s ordered to teach at “A” School, the elite training program that turns young recruits, like cocky hotshot Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher), into the best and bravest. Determined to prepare these athletes for the dangerous trials that they’re going to face in the future, Randall institutes intense, rigorous, unorthodox training methods, much to the consternation of his cohorts. Then, in the fierce, turbulent waters of Alaska’s Bering Sea, his feisty top student will be tested.
Conceived in the inspiring genre of “Top Gun” and “An Officer and a Gentleman,” written with metaphysical touches by Ron L. Brinkerhoff and directed with good-natured cynicism by Andrew Davis (“The Fugitive”), what it lacks is the kind of star charisma generated by a Tom Cruise or a Richard Gere. Given this serious, meaty role, Ashton Kutcher (“The Butterfly Effect”) oozes brash yet shallow blandness, offset only by Kevin Costner’s amiable, world-weary empathy and consummate professionalism.
The viscerally gripping cinematography of the dangerous missions and monstrous waves is spectacular – and one of the ‘students’ is Mark Gangloff, who won Olympic gold in Athens. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Guardian” is a crowd-pleasing, exciting 8, examining what it takes – physically and psychologically – to be a hero. Think of it as “Top Fin.”
