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: murder, violence, cult, action, romantic, melodrama, suspenseful

Review:
As the initial in camp hostilities die down, Frank & Rachel start to draw ever closer, but so does the person who wants her dead...The Bodyguard is one of those films that was long in gestation, originally mooted in 1976 to star Steve McQueen (it was written with McQueen in mind in the 60s) and Diana Ross, it was put on the back burner after McQueen fell ill to the cancer that killed him.
In stepped Whitney Houston (brilliantly diva casting), Costner gave himself a crew cut (in homage to McQueen) and The Bodyguard went on to make $410,900,000 worldwide.The film now seems like a myth to me because the rating across many forums is on the low side, critics hate it and you will be hard pressed to find macho film fans readily about to own up to liking the picture.
(the soundtrack to the movie selling 17 million in America alone).In spite of the obviousness of the plot, and the general feeling of familiarity, The Bodyguard has much going for it, things that ensured it became a monster hit and had cinema goers queueing round the block to see it.
The plot is intriguing enough to carry the film through and the romance between Costner and Houston builds steadily and realistically.With some decent action scenes, a decent cast and a great soundtrack, i found the Bodyguard to be an enjoyable movie.Clearly this film is not for everyone, it doesn't have enough action to satisfy the action fans, it isn't thrilling enough to be a thriller and as a pure romance film it is fairly weak; but i have to admit it does balance between these 3 genres quite well without excelling in any one of them.7/10.
Moreover, the story is plausible and the movie is well-acted too, with Whitney Houston turning in an outstanding performance reminiscent of Diana Ross's in Lady Sings the Blues (which is another great movie).
I just recently watched The Bodyguard again and i forgot how good it was.Costner plays the role of the obsessed bodyguard perfectly and Houston's first feature film performance was flawless.This story of an obsessed stalker terrorising a famous performer and the bodyguard trying to protect her at all costs, was made in a refreshing way, even to compete with todays movie standardsMick Jackson's The Bodyguard is a great movie to watch over and over again even when you find out whodunnit ..
I was a great admirer of Kevin Costner's performance in "Dances with Wolves", and I went to see "The Bodyguard" in the hope that it would be a film of similar scope and vision.
Frank was not on duty at the time- in fact, he was attending his mother's funeral- but he cannot escape from the thought that, if he had been present, he could have prevented the President from being shot.Whitney Houston is a beautiful woman, with a beautiful voice which was shown off to good advantage in this film.
Luckily the on-screen romance and chemistry from Houston and Costner, along with a great soundtrack, save this film from being a total bust.
Annoyingly stupid movie, meant to launch Whitney Houston's acting career and, apparently, Kevin Costner's fallback career as a model for terrible haircuts.
Houston is, of course, gorgeous and sings like an angel, but her acting "talent" is nowhere to be seen, and her ineptness brings down the whole movie--not that it had a lot going for it in the first place.
After Houston, playing a pop diva, starts getting death threats from an obsessed and obviously crazed fan, Costner--a former Secret Service agent--is hired to protect her.
Yeah, right.Anyway, like I said, Houston is great to look at, her voice is divine, and Costner tries hard, but overall this movie is not much more than an extended episode of "General Hospital" or some other equally brainless soap opera, and is just as predictable and badly acted.
Nonsensical rubbish served as the debut acting vehicle for real-life music diva Whitney Houston, who does passable work off the stage.
Second, I don't think she is all that beautiful either with those lifeless eyes of hers and the bitchiness came way too easy for her.Kevin Costner looks good in clothes (costumes) but has the voice of a 15 year old boy.
Kevin Costner was right to insist that Whitney Houston costar in this film.
Mutual attraction will place limits on both of their lives - if they manage to stay safe for long enough, that is...Costner is well-suited to playing the stoic and intense action man, and casting Whitney Houston as a singer allows her a fairly comfortable start in the movies.
If you can handle watching old Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston's lack of chemistry which is supposed to be so much a part of her motivations (and his), try to watch it all the way through.
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 .
In the end Whitney Houston, who was looking for something to launch her inevitable movie career took the part and history was made.The Bodyguard is the story of a former secret service agent, Frank Farmer, who can't forgive himself for the fact that he had the day off the day that Ronald Reagan was shot.
Kevin Costner is by far the most boring actor ever and this film simply serves to prove that, even though he over acts to the bitter end.
Whatever films I comment on this site, The Bodyguard was clearly a movie that saw Kevin Costner's film career start to wane through highs and lows where to this day, he makes frequent appearances in inferior films and because I did not read any reviews from the film critics when this 1992 film first came out, The Bodyguard looked to be promising due to the number of promotions it had with a TV commercial or movie posters displayed at lit-up bus stop shelters and shop windows.However, a couple of years later when I viewed it on the living room box, I couldn't believe what a stinker this turned out to be and even seeing the average ratings given in the TV guides for one of the biggest problems with this film is that turned out to be rather dull for a number of reasons with the plot about a bodyguard assigned to protect a celebrity singer played by one Whitney Houston, fictitious or not!
Even if some say that Costner was miscast as the minder, then Houston's "off-stage" part is so annoying as if she cared less about her own safety from a mob of deranged fans and behaves like a spoilt child and all I can say, considering the number of promotions this film received around the time it hit box office in the early 1990s, its such a waste,.
Let me count the ways:  slow plot, preposterous story, and bad acting -- particularly by Whitney Houston.
Former Secret Service agent Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) is a no nonsense bodyguard who doesn't like to get involved with his clients or stay around too long.
Much of the time I was trying to figure out what on earth was happening with the plot that seemed to go on endlessly.The story of the bodyguard is about Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner), a veteran in the art of protection and now only takes care of special VIPs. Sadly, the character of Farmer is so thinly written that nothing ever changes for the better in this man.
What a sad day today (11 FEB 2012).The Bodyguard will not go down in cinematic history as an unforgettable film, but Whitney's acting performance was just that indeed and quite compelling.After seeing this movie when it came out two decades ago now, I was really hoping she would shift career gears just a little bit in order to more cultivate these acting talents.It's hardly believable that such a great talent has departed at such a young age.R.I.P. Whitney..
And the worst part was definitely the inexistant chemistry between Kevin Costner (the bodyguard) and Whitney Houston.
Some of the little things that used to get under my skin with this movie (ie: Kevin Costner's hair style, Whitney's choppy debut acting performance, some of the mistakes they made in regard to how a trained secret service agent would really act in certain situations, some of the bad camera work at the end of the movie) - these things just don't bother me anymore.The power and the strength of this film is the music, the chemistry between Costner and Houston, and the strong characters.
Now when the film started out, I was actually surprised, I found myself enjoying it, but then it got into a mystery thriller that wasn't really needed in my opinion, that wasn't explained very well or wasn't even enjoyable.Frank is one of the best bodyguards around, he has protected some very important people in his life, but he refuses celebrities.
It's boring, there's no chemistry, and there's no sense of danger to even necessitate a bodyguard.So, even though Kevin Costner's a cutie, this is one to skip unless you really, really love Whitney Houston songs..
The story of the movie goes something like this: a former Secret Service agent is hired by a pop singer to be her bodyguard, after a murder attempt.
Sweet and Electrifying, Much Better Than Its Perceived To Be. Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) a clean cut, methodical ex-secret service guard whose drink of choice is orange juice is hired to protect Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) a pop star diva whose unaware of her stalker situation.
Bodyguard (1992)Plot In A Paragraph: Frank Farmer (KC) a former Secret Service agent takes on the job of bodyguard to a singing superstar Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston)Whilst I do not rate The Bodyguard as high as some people do.
It did feature good performances by Kevin Costner as the obsessed bodyguard and Whitney Houston as the pop superstar he had been hired to protect, but it also got a bit prodding at times.
Whitney acts better than Costner, but great story and well made.Loved the references to Yojimbo.Good country scenes with the father from the Waltons.
I don't know why the Razzie Awards attacked the film so much, it's a truly classical love story with great performance, music and directing.
The outline of this movie is Frank Farmer (Costner) being an extremely serious bodyguard protecting Rachel Marron (Houston), an extremely immature person.
Average movie that produced a great soundtrack it's average due to the mediocre performances of Houston and Kevin Costner..
The, Bodyguard is a movie to watch but this film is more known for the music it helped make popular..
mick jackson didn't manage many believed was impossible.the sacrifice scene wasn't horrific.this film isn't one memorablle scene after another.it has been a victim of the whitney houston pop song 's success .alan silvestri's score wasn't perfect.the love theme wasn't beautiful and tragic.the movie wasn't made with such humanity..
I love the performances throughout the movie most..Kevin Costner portrays Frank Farmer, a no-nonsense bodyguard hired by the singers associates that struggles with Marron's devotion to her career and her own deluded view that she is invincible.
If you like a who-done-it film, amazing music, watching Kevin Costner, as well as just the right mix of romance and damsel in distress, you've got to get The Bodyguard (and get the soundtrack while you're at it).Overall rating: 8 out of 10..
***SPOILERS*** Kevin Costner as ex secret service agent Frank Farmer looks genuinely board stiff as his role demands him to be guarding the body of singer and actress Rachel Marron, Whitney Houston, as her bodyguard in "The Bodyguard".
It's her obsessed fan and stalker who's planning to whack her at the biggest moment in Rachel's life when she's to accept the Academy Award for best actress with over a billion people watching the great event live and on TV all over the globe.***SPOILERS*** The love angle in the movie doesn't quite pan out with Farmer and Marron never really clicking in their love scenes that come across mechanical and not genuine at all.
But by then she's so turned off by his almost zombie or robot like action that she almost allows her intended killer to do her in by not believing or responding to Farmers frantic attempts to save her life.Both Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston as Frank Farmer & Rachel Marro did their best to make their parts in the movie work and the final payoff with a by then a disgraced, in letting things get out of hand, Farmer saving Rachel's life which saved the film from being total disaster.
It was sad that the film "The Bodyguard" in a way predicted its star Whitney Houston's actual death some 20 years later in 2012.
Personally, I think they blended the two genres together pretty well here.Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston did fine in their respective roles and the film had a nice pace throughout.I also have to commend this film for some pretty tense scenes that I don't think the other reviews gave enough credit for.
Although I believe people are rating the movie on what has happened to Whitney Houston in recent years, they should judge it for the performances themselves and that means it's not bad..
The Bodyguard starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston is one of the most successful movies of all-time, grossing over 410 million dollars worldwide.
Kevin Costner played a very dramatic role and Whitney Houston also showed many of her talents in acting and singing superbly.
THE BODYGUARD, in my opinion, is a great Whitney Houston movie.
In conclusion, I recommend this movie to all you Kevin Costner or Whitney Houston fans who have not seen it.
Kevin Costner is a great actor and I thought Whitney Houston did a great job acting in a part similar to her own life very well.
It's one of those likable but stupid movies that make the time fly by on a Friday night -- unless, of course, you have something better to do than waste your time watching Kevin Costner attempt to act and Whitney Houston attempt to love him.The movie stars Kevin Costner as Frank Farmer, a bodyguard who blames himself for events from the past that come back to haunt him.
But, despite its (extremely) bad traits, the movie is a lot of fun to watch.I don't like Kevin Costner.
well, 2 out 3 ain't bad.Okay so Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston are both very good at what they do best and that is building enjoyable entertainment, whether its a movie or a song.
Costner does a GREAT job as a badass bodyguard who falls in love with his client and Houston does a great job although she makes me think in the movie shes mixing medications.
It was a great shock to me when I found that this film is given an average of 5.7 .I think it deserves to be in the top 50 movies.It is a great movie with great directing,story,crew and great performance by Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.The songs also are incredible.
Kevin Costner has had his performance in this film described as wooden, but personally I think it's the opposite, he is after all, playing a character who has to hide his emotions, and he does it well.
Bodyguard is one of the best films i have ever seen, the good combination between a former secret service agent Kevin who lost every thing , with serious type who give all his interest to his job,and a succesful singer who had everything , with the bitchy type who give all her interest to her fans this combination make a perfect romance.The music is great , Whitney performance is great ,nobody can deny the pure golden voice, what presence,It worth watching more than 10 times and be enjoyable each time, it deserve to be the biggest selling soundtrack of all time..
If you haven't watched it, then that reason alone should be a good cause to watch it.Both Whitney Houston & Kevin Costner did a great job.
Overall a great film to watch with a date or just to be inspired if you think of playing the role of a bodyguard in a woman's life..
Starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, who were both at the height of their star power this film is about a diva singer and her bodyguard.
The willingness to sacrifice oneself to save the life of another person is inherently romantic, which is the idea at the centre of The Bodyguard, a two-worlds-collide drama-thriller starring two of the hottest tickets of 1992's film and music scene, Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.
Acting was solid by all involved, but especially of course by our leads Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston - we do care for these two sharply drawn characters.
As Costner said in his eulogy: "anyone could have played the leading man, but only Whitney Houston could have played that part"; in one sense, he was right, even a star like Madonna wouldn't have fit the film.
Kevin Costner is in one of his best roles as the secret service agent, Frank Farmer, who is hired to protect Rachel Marron (played by Whitney Houston in her movie-acting debut), but neither has any idea that there will be love between them.