Bobby (2006)

If I was looking for a film that would fill up our tags, then Bobby was the one to do it. The superpower cast includes: Harry Belafonte, Anthony Hopkins, Lindsay Lohan, Ashton Kutcher, Helen Hunt, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, Elijah Wood, Joy Bryant, and William H. Macy.

The plot focuses on the day at the hotel before the night that Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Most of this film takes place at the Ambassador Hotel, which was a landmark until it was torn down recently. Bobby attempts to portray the characters of all social levels, from the busboy on up to the owner of the hotel as their live proceed during the day. It also tries to show that their paths intertwine, and that these folks are all related somehow, kind of the "six degrees of separation" thing.

My criticism of this film is twofold. Firstly, I felt that at times,we were reinterpreting the "stormy sixties" of 1968 through our modern times. While I guess this is impossible to avoid, as we all interpret the world through filters, it still doesn't need to be so obvious as it was in Bobby. The other thing was that there was very little of RFK. He finally makes a cameo appearance at the film's end to declare victory in the California primary, and get shot exiting through the kitchen (not much of a spoiler there, I think we all knew how it would end). His other several appearances are all canned newsreel footage of RFK giving speeches that made me feel like I was watching some type of "Kennedy marathon," on the History Channel, and not a major motion picture with this much star power.


Strange as it might seem, the part of Bobby that I enjoyed the most was the setting. The props all looked quite accurate and authentic for 1968. It reminded me of the analog world of the late Sixties, and how the digital revolution would change the world over the next three decades.

The acting performances were all excellent, although with so many characters, I would have liked to know less of them better, and at times I felt that the film lost focus. At least a few of the characters lacked depth, and I wasn't really sure who they were, or what they were doing in the hotel that day.

In summary, if you're a Kennedy fan, than Bobby is probably a great film for you. If you're not, then despite its big name star power, its only average.

Overall Grade: B-

--Jonas

The Guardian (2006)

The Guardian is a blockbuster action movie. It stars Kevin Costner, and Ashton Kutcher. It focuses on the rescue swimmers of the US Coast Guard; these are the courageous folks that jump out of a helicopter with flippers on to rescue you when your ship sinks.

I'll admit that I was prejudiced by other critics who said that The Guardian was merely a remake of An Officer and a Gentleman, and Costner was not as good as Lou Gossett, Jr. Still, the coming attraction looked good, so I decided to watch this lengthy 2:19 film. I'm very glad I did, as The Guardian is much more like the early, formula Tom Cruise films, like The Color of Money, or Days of Thunder. Even though this is a lengthy film, it moved well, and didn't seem like it needed more trimming.

Kevin Costner plays a Ben Randall, Senior Chief Rescue Swimmer in the Coast Guard. He is as experienced as they come, and lives for the job. Through a series of events, he ends up running the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School. Enter Ashton Kutcher, who plays Jake "Goldfish" Fischer, the new hot shot student. He's a high school swim champ who endeavors to be the best. Here we have the makings of the master and apprentice relationship. Costner has several "innovative" activities for the new recruits that try to better bridge the gap between the training program, and what the job really demands. There is a definite turning point in their relationship after the bar fight at the Navy's stomping ground. And by the end of this film, the relationship develops even further.

Throughout The Guardian, there was a lot of effort to portray the rescue swimmers accurately. Kutcher spent eight months learning to be a rescue swimmer! They had numerous technical advisors, including former and current rescue swimmers. Scenes were filmed on location at the actual Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer School. They built a wave pool that could produce nine foot waves to portray the Bering Sea (in an ironic twist of fate, it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and had to be rebuilt on another site). The director and actors flew out on a Coast Guard helicopter to gain some first hand experience. Even the extras were Olympic swimmers, and rescue swimmers.

All of this attention to detail really pays off and comes together. Through this crackling realism, we enjoy a great tale of the master and the apprentice. While saving a life isn't exactly a foreign concept in my chosen profession, jumping from a helicopter into a stormy, freezing sea is. These Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers are true heroes, and The Guardian is able to tell their story, through the film. If you're looking for action and adventure, with a great story, then this film delivers the goods.

Overall Grade: A+