The Bodyguard

There is something appealing to a modern audience about the fantasy of a bodyguard and their asset falling in love. It appears all over pop culture. It can be found in British shows like Bodyguard, Korean dramas too numerous to mention, and famously in this movie: The Bodyguard. There is something deep and primal in the desire to be protected by others. Similarly, there is a desire in some to be seen as the ultimate protector. Both of these fantasies can express themselves through the core elements of this relatively niche sub-genre of romantic drama. When you consider that this setup also creates a circumstance where an every-man can make sparks fly with someone typically well out of their normal dating circle, a la Notting Hill, it’s easy to see why it has such appeal. The thing with The Bodyguard is that sparks don’t so much fly as fall to the ground and peter out. In my opinion, it was purely the strength of the bodyguard and protector fantasy, combined with Whitney Houston’s singing (and subsequent smash hit soundtrack), that propelled The Bodyguard to its $411 million box office and status within pop culture.

For starters, so much about The Bodyguard is just goofy. Everything in the movie is extremely exaggerated, in the vein of a melodrama. The plot is full of unrealistic twists and convenient contrivances which make it feel, at times, more like a soap opera than just a simple melodrama. One particularly egregious scene for the over-dramatics is when the bodyguard, played by Kevin Costner, carries the pop star, played by Whitney Houston, out of a music club in which she is giving a surprise performance. There is plenty to nit pick from a realism angle in this scene. He carries her in his arms, in front of him, which both prevents him from drawing a sidearm and from using his body to shield hers if an assailant comes from the front. But even setting those issues aside, losing ourselves in the film and suspending our disbelief, the way that the scene is shot is also totally over the top. The quick cutting and heavy use of close ups to disorient, while fine techniques in a vacuum, when combined with the night club lighting and Houston’s performance make this whole scene feel more like a music video from early MTV than a serious moment in a movie.

These flawed melodramatic qualities and goofy writing bleed into the characters as well. The main characters are so perfect they feel like they were written by a child. The titular bodyguard is a former Secret Service agent who, despite being one of the best agents around, left the service for mysterious reasons. You expect these reasons to be some kind of tragic and life changing event from a protection detail, like the guilt of not being able to stop an assassination or the trauma of seeing a child killed in the collateral damage of an attempt on someone’s life. You’d be wrong. The great weight he carries on his shoulders is that he took the day off when Reagan was shot. But he didn’t take the day off to do something that would imply he has actual character flaws, something he might feel justifiably guilty about. Oh, no. He took the day off to attend the funeral of a family member. So, in other words, his hugely important character defining moment is when he made the very reasonable choice to use a single vacation day to attend a funeral and grieve the loss of a family member and, as a result, he wasn’t there to protect a president who didn’t even die.

The diva singer character isn’t much better. She is fiery and impulsive to balance out the bodyguard’s cool and taciturn demeanor, but this rarely backfires on her making it more of a character trait than a flaw. On the other hand, she is a wildly successful pop star who is also nominated for, and wins, an academy award for best actress. This doesn’t really happen. Since it takes a fairly singular devotion to music and image management to become a true pop diva, the vast majority of singers who attempt to transition to acting are underwhelming at best. Even when one can make the transition, the Academy can almost never bring themselves to give them credit. If they do give them credit, in the form of a nomination; they never win. If a musician wins an Oscar it is basically always for best song or best score. Only Cher, to my knowledge, has actually ever been both a pop star and an Academy Award winning actor and she did it after an extended hiatus from music to focus on acting. It surely wasn’t while she was a headlining music act. This could have easily been solved by having the events that occur while she was on stage for some other reason, such as winning a different award or presenting an award to someone else, but then that would make her seem less perfect and we can’t have that.

The two main leads also don’t have the right chemistry. We are meant to believe that this is a love story for the ages, especially with the melodramatic tone of everything, yet the central couple never really clicks. In the beginning, this is less notable as their energy is more flirtatious, especially on the pop star’s side, so the fact that they seem drawn to each other based on a surface level attraction makes perfect sense. As the movie progresses, however, and the two are supposed to be falling for each other in a much more genuine way, it never feels like they form a real, deep connection. Even when the bodyguard brings her and her family to his father’s cabin as a safe house, which combines the emotionally substantive acts of meeting the parents and playing house all in one go, the tone of the whole sequence ends up much more focused on the couple’s growing fears and much less on their growing romance.

The movie does really shine when it comes to its music, however. “I Have Nothing,” “Run to You,” and especially Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” are just oozing in talent and totally befitting the caliber of pop star she plays in the movie. All too often, the music in a movie about music never lives up to the hype the movie’s narrative constructs around it, but here that is decidedly not true. And, while Houston’s acting isn’t mind-blowing, it is at least good enough to justify the decision to cast a singer who can do the music justice over an actor whose singing might be capable, but not enough to sell the music as a pop hit.

My only gripe with the movie’s soundtrack is that “I Will Always Love You” is featured twice, once the original Dolly Parton and once by Whitney Houston, and this reprise (of sorts) is supposed to signify something important in the nature of Costner and Houston’s relationship. This did not work for me. The movie does not do a great job of setting up the second version of “I Will Always Love You,” in my opinion, and so while it is a beautiful rendition it fails somewhat to provide its symbolic meaning in that moment in the movie.

In the end, The Bodyguard’s characters are too perfect, its plot and shooting style too melodramatic, and its steamy central romance more flirty than passionate, leaving only the power of the bodyguard romance and the high quality of the music to hold up an otherwise shaky film. It is clear that these two elements are truly the movie’s shining components, as they are all most people know or remember about the film.

Would Recommend: If the idea that your significant other would take a bullet for you is highly appealing.

Would Not Recommend: If you would rather take a bullet than watch a melodramatic romance with a weak payoff.