The Bodyguard

Plot synopsis:
Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) is an Academy Award-nominated music superstar who is being stalked and sent death threats. Things get dangerously out of hand when a bomb disguised as a doll explodes in her dressing room. Rachel's manager, Bill Devaney (Bill Cobbs), seeks the services of a professional bodyguard, Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner), to protect her. He is a highly successful private bodyguard, mostly protecting corporate VIPs. Formerly he was a Secret Service agent who served as part of the presidential protection detail during two presidencies. Frank is reluctant to accept the offer to guard Rachel as he sees her as a spoiled diva who is oblivious to the threats against her life.
Frank's concerns are quickly realized when Rachel looks upon Frank as being paranoid and his extensive protection techniques as intrusive. Rachel's existing bodyguard Tony (Mike Starr) resents Frank's presence. But at a concert where Rachel is performing, a riot breaks out and Frank rescues her from danger. As a result, the two develop a closer relationship. Frank tries to remain professional, but the two sleep together. However, recognizing that this compromises his ability to protect his client, Frank breaks off their affair. Hurt, Rachel begins to defy Frank's painstaking security measures. She even goes as far as attempting to sleep with his former Secret Service colleague Greg Portman (Tomas Arana). But after she has personal contact with her stalker via a threatening phone call, Rachel realizes that she must put her trust in Frank ahead of her own desire for personal gratification. She finally recognizes the seriousness of the situation and cancels the rest of her tour.
Frank, Rachel, Rachel's driver Henry (Christopher Birt), Rachel's son Fletcher (DeVaughn Nixon), and her sister Nicki (Michele Lamar Richards) then travel to a large lakefront cabin in the mountains, the home of Frank’s father, Herb (Ralph Waite). The next day, Fletcher is almost killed when a bomb explodes inside the boat he rode moments before. After finding footprints around the cabin and sabotaged automobiles, Frank realizes that Rachel's stalker has followed them. After securing the house for the night, Frank learns that Rachel's obsessive stalker and the person trying to kill her are not the same person. Angry and drunk, Nicki admits that during a drug-induced fit of jealousy she hired a hitman to kill Rachel, but that the letters from the stalker came before that. However, she cannot call it off because she does not know the killer's identity.
Abruptly, the hitman breaks into the house and fatally shoots Nicki. Frank, who is armed with a semi-automatic pistol, ensures that his father has secured the rest of the group on the second floor. Upon tracking the killer and then pursuing him into the woods, Frank shoots but misses, allowing the shooter to escape capture. Frank learns the next day, from his Secret Service contacts, that they have apprehended the stalker and were interviewing him when Nicki was shot.
Frank and Rachel attend Nicki's funeral and then the Academy Awards ceremony, where Frank gives Rachel a panic button in the shape of a cross to immediately alert him to any trouble. A host of backstage technical issues hamper Frank's efforts to monitor the proceedings closely. During the actual show, Rachel freezes and runs offstage, angry at Frank for embarrassing her with overprotective measures. However, Rachel returns to the audience and is present when announced as the winner for Best Actress. As she comes toward the stage to accept the award, the hitman is revealed to be Portman. Frank notices Portman pointing a gun disguised as a camera at Rachel. As Portman prepares for the fatal shot, Frank runs on stage and leaps in front of Rachel, intercepting the shot. Once regaining his balance, he shoots Portman through his camera-gun, killing him. Frank is left wounded and Rachel calls for help—all the while urging him to stay with her.
Frank recovers from the shooting and goes to say goodbye to Rachel at the airport. After the plane starts to taxi, Rachel suddenly jumps out and runs to Frank for one last passionate kiss. The film ends with a scene from Frank's next assignment—protecting a mob-fighting U.S. congressman—where a priest, using the emergency cross earlier given to Rachel, provides a solemn benediction as the lawmaker's new bodyguard keeps a watchful eye.

Tags: psychedelic, comic

Review:
Spike-To-The-Rescue Gags Make This A Big Winner.
"Thanks, chum.
I'm your pal for life!"So says big Spike, the bulldog, after Jerry unhitches the rear of the Dog Catcher truck and lets him out.
Jerry had been in the area when he heard Spike's plea for help.
Now he has a handy friend "Anytime you ever needs me," says the tough and grammatically-incorrect dog, "just whistle."Well, it doesn't long for Jerry take the dog up on the offer.
Later, while he's in the middle of two slices of bread and a couple of olives, Jerry gives his first whistle!This is a very funny cartoon.
Yes, Jerry blows the whistle a few times, but in each case what happens to Tom is different with the sight gags and they're good.
In this case, Tom deserves his punishment.
He just doesn't seem to learn.
Spike, with a bit of an Irish brogue, is hilarious.The jokes were so good they didn't need the usual long chase scenes.
What's also different in this one is that Tom actually comes up with a plan that works!
The artwork was good, too, with some great expressions and reactions on Tom's face.
Finally, this animated short also has an unusual, and very good, finish.
Overall, one of the top-echelon Tom and Jerry cartoons..
you know how to whistle, don't ya?.
After Jerry the mouse rescues Spike the dog from being caught by the dog pound, he offers to be a bodyguard for the mouse.
All he has to do is whistle whenever he's getting attacked by Tom the cat, and spike will be right their to pummel Tom. At first it works superbly but after Tom gives Jerry a jawbreaker covered in glue Jerry finds that he can no longer whistle.
This short has some great sight gags.
And while Spike might seem a bit thick-headed and dense I enjoyed it immensely.This cartoon can be found on disc one of the Spotlight collection DVD of "Tom & Jerry"My Grade: A.
If ever in need of help, just give a whistle.
Have always loved Tom and Jerry.
Have vivid and fond memories of seeing all of their cartoons, with the classic ones (the Hanna Barbera years, the best of which among the best cartoons ever made, Chuck Jones' output was a mixed bag and most of Gene Deitch's were abominations and disgraces to cartoondom) being watched over and over, at my sister's late godfather's house at the age of six and have been a huge fan since.'The Bodyguard' is up there as one my favourites, along with 'The Cat Concerto', 'The Little Orphan', 'Johann Mouse', 'The Two Mouseketeers', 'Tom and Jerry at the Hollywood Bowl', 'Down Beat Bear', 'Heavenly Puss', 'Solid Serenade', 'Mice Follies', 'The Invisible Mouse' and 'Quiet Please'.
The premise may sound very familiar and formulaic but it has incredibly clever and imaginative execution and actually does do things differently, with less focus on the chases, Tom's plan for once not backfiring and a very atypical ending for a Tom and Jerry cartoon.As ever with classic Tom and Jerry, the animation is beautiful to watch.
Love the colours which are all smooth and vibrant, the gorgeously detailed backgrounds and all the characters are very well drawn (even early-design Tom).
The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms, not only fitting perfectly but enhancing the action.When it comes to the writing, 'The Bodyguard' may be one of the more violent classic Hanna/Barbera-era cartoons but it is also one of the funniest.
The gags are never distastefully sadistic like the ones in the Gene Deitch cartoons and they are not only imaginatively timed they are never less than very funny.
The story is set up beautifully and never loses the entertainment and intrigue value.Spike steals the show of the three characters.
Brilliantly voiced by Billy Bletcher, he has great comic timing, is very clever and it is hard not to like him.
Jerry amuses too and is suitably anarchic, proving to be more than just a cute-looking mouse.
The funnier and more interesting of the duo has always been Tom, he not only takes the butt of the laughs wonderfully to great comic effect one also feels sorry for him, the cartoon does a great job with his expressions as is often the case with Tom and Jerry.Overall, up there with the Hanna/Barbera Tom and Jerry classics.
10/10 Bethany Cox. The Bodyguard.
The Bodyguard (1944) **** (out of 4) Without question one of the best films in the long-running series, this one has Jerry helping a bulldog out of a dogcatcher's van and the dog offers to help him whenever he needs it.
All Jerry has to do is whistle and the dog will be there to protect him, which of course means Tom gets beat up countless ways.
THE BODYGUARD was the first truly great film in the series and it really doesn't matter how many times I've seen it, I laugh as hard each and every time.
What makes this one so much fun is just how brutal it is in regards to the cartoon violence.
Tom is constantly getting punched and thrown around, which leads to fast action and a lot of fun.
The animation, music score and sound effects are all wonderful as well.
Certainly one of the best Tom and Jerry ever did..
Slapstick fun!.
When I was a kid I loved Tom and Jerry.
I loved seeing the constant formula of Tom finding a new way to try and catch Jerry and being foiled every time, both are don in the most outlandish of ways.
I must say out of all the Tom and Jerry cartoons I watched back then - this was my favourite.
Does it still hold up?
Does Tom get hurt consistently in these things?...
So here is The Bodyguard.In this one instead of Jerry consistently foiling Tom's plans on catching him - he runs away from them as fast as he can.
Until he meets a trapped bulldog.
After freeing the dog he declares them both pals and will always help out Jerry if Jerry whistles.
When finding out the bulldog actually hurts Tom Jerry decides to have a little fun with this.The animation is good for the time and The slapstick holds up even to this day.
That's really all I can talk about for a review for a Tom and Jerry short.
If you aren't a fan of Tom and Jerry then this short will probably not change your opinion of them.
If however you want to see silent cat, mouse and bulldog fighting each other in outlandish, cartoony ways then this short is definitely worth a look..
Spike does it again..
The Bodyguard sees the return of Spike the bulldog, and a return to form for Tom and Jerry (after the disappointing episodes, The Zoot Cat and Baby Puss).After rescuing Spike from the dogcatcher's van, Jerry is told by the grateful dog that if he ever needs help, all he has to do is whistle.
Which spells trouble for Tomuntil the wily cat tricks the mouse into chewing some specially prepared bubble gum, which makes him unable to call for his protective canine pal.I liked Spike's first appearance in Dog Trouble, and even though he's less ferocious in this one, and even talks, The Bodyguard proves to be another very funny episode.
Tom gets clobbered by Spike in a variety of amusing ways, and there are plenty of laughs to be had at the expense of the poor catat least until the very end, which sees Spike recaptured, and Jerry running for his life..
And I will always ha-ate yooooooo!!!.
Tom and Jerry are involved in a chase, as per damn usual.
Jerry, when hiding, springs Spike loose from the Pound Van. As a reward, Spike says he will help-out Jerry whenever he is in trouble.
All he has to do is whistle and Spike will be there to save him.So the chase continues and just when Tom has him in his clutches, Jerry whistles for Spike and Tom gets a clobbering.
Not so imaginative and the chase is kinda generic.
There are a couple of sneaky tricks when Tom tries to stop Jerry from whistling but it's nothing special at all and the final gag isn't that great.A thoroughly generic cartoon..
When the whistle blows.
"The Bodyguard" is an American cartoon from 1944, so this one has its 75th anniversary next year and if you see that it is another Hanna Barbera production, then maybe you guess correctly already that it is indeed another little movie (out of so many) starring the world's most famous cat-and-mouse duo still 3 quarters of a century later: Tom and Jerry.
It runs the usual 7 minutes and is probably among their more, but not most known efforts.
The major supporting character joining the duo this time is the hunky dog Spike, who becomes Jerry's new pal and protector from Tom when the little mouse helps him out od the dog catcher's van.
And every time Jerry whistles, Spike is there to protect him.
The funniest moments here come from Tom though, namely the scene when we see him react to Jerry's inability to whistle and when he digs his own grave at the very end almost.
But the fact that Spike really isn't the brightest bulb out there is proven several times in here and not just at the very end when he gets caught again.
Seeing Tom talk is still far more unusual than seeing Spike talk to me, but all in all, this is a pretty good watch, certainly one of the better T&J short films from back then.
Man this is old.
When it was released, World War II was still going on.
I give it a thumbs-up easily and without hesitation as I liked it more than most of the others I saw.
Join me in checking this one out.
You won't regret it.