Jarring Jump Cuts

Rating: 4/10 (18 August 2004)

Strange as it seems the director of THE BODYGUARD is a former BBC director called Mick Jackson who made the nuclear holocaust docudrama THREADS . I say it`s strange because there surely can`t be a bigger contrast between a director`s two pieces of work . On one hand you have a very cheaply made kitchen sink drama dealing with a subject you pray will never happen , or if it does you`d hope to be vapourised in the opening exchange while on the other you have Hollywood blockbuster melodrama material (Though the plot has also popped up in several latter TVMs ) featuring love and songs and the occasional shoot out
There is a stylistic connection between these two Jackson directed contrasts and that`s the jump edits . I checked the credits on both THREADS and THE BODYGUARD and was very surprised to find that different editors were used in both because the editing is very similar in its jarring quality of having a scene where noise is overwhelming followed by a scene of total silence which lasts several seconds . I guess it`s the fault of the director

As for the rest of this movie I didn`t think much of it . For a romance to work on screen you need a lot of chemistry between the two romantically linked protagonists and THE BODYGUARD features the charisma free Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston , and I was certain that the film would have worked far better if the movie was produced in the mid 1970s with Steve McQueen and Diana Ross in the main roles . It wouldn`t have saved the film from its TVM type plot but at least we`d see some convincing characterisation and acting
Finally the title song is one you will either love or hate . I hate it