The Guardian

The Guardian (Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, Sela Ward) – Surprise! Iowa’s Ashton Kutcher can act.  Well, he’s not De Niro or Pacino or even Colin Farrell, but he proves here there’s more here than simply being Mr. Demi Moore.   Our hero, played by Kevin Costner, is a rescue diver in this love letter to the U.S. Coast Guard.  Costner is falling into a dangerous pattern as an actor.  For several movies now, he has played the same part.  The trailer should say: “Kevin Costner stars in the story of an aging fill in the blank (baseball player, playboy, rescue diver) who, despite all odds fill in the blank (wins, redeems himself, becomes a legend).”  Truthfully, Kevin, we know you can’t act outside sports or cowboy movies, but must you force us to suspend all disbelief every time you don a uniform?  I’m being too critical here.  His performance here is actually convincing if you can buy him as only 40 in one of the most grueling jobs ever.  And you have to really stretch your mind to believe that idiots in Alaska really go out boating, cave exploring, and fishing in the worst inclement weather imaginable.  But if you can – and I admit that I did – this is a first-rate action movie with shades of Men of Honor, An Officer and a Gentleman and Armageddon. The plot is predictable and the movie is a bit long at 2:19, but the story tells the tale of unsung heroes with only the desire to save lives to motivate them.  I’ll predict mediocre box office, which is a hallmark of the Costner films of late, but it will break our Kutcher for roles bigger than That 70s Show and Rumor’s step-father.