The Guardian

Ashton Kutcher, best known for playing Kelso on That 70’s Show and for his MTV prank show Punk’d has recently been trying a bit of a Jim Carrey, that is a comedy actor trying to play more straight up dramatic roles (see also Jack Black in King Kong or Zach Braff in The Last Kiss). In the Guardian he plays an ambitious recruit for the Rescue swimmers, the elite search and rescue team employed around America ’s coast to save those involved in boating or other sea-related accidents. The film follows his relationship with the head coach Frank Farmer played by Kevin Costner, in typical hero / mentor with issues style. Renowned as the most decorated swimmer in recent history Farmer suffers an accident and is put in charge of the years new trainees. Enter many training montages, bonding moments and arguments with the existing staff over his unusual teaching style – for example helping the recruits learn about pneumonia by having them huddle in an ice bath. For what the film does it does it pretty well. The characters are reasonable interesting and the film is enjoyable, in so much as I found it interesting to find out about the life of the rescue swimmers, group I didn’t even know existed, and who will no doubt will benefit from the publicity gained from this film. However the main flaws lie in the fact that the story has been told so many times, and the characters seem so familiar that it is rarely surprising. It is comfortable, in the same way so many romantic comedies are because you know where it is going and it doesn’t challenge you along the way. There are some pretty decent special effects during the rescue scenes, though they are not always totally convincing and generally the acting is good, Costner still has plenty of charisma and plays the hard man with a heart so well you forgive the clichés that follow his character. Kutcher doesn’t fare as well, he embodies the youthfully cockiness well enough, but it is too easy to see his comedy side come through, though he manages the dramatics with more skill that you may think. He is certainly no embarrassment and is a likeable enough lead character. The other recruits however are fairly forgettable and where the film really falters is that the ending does not serve what has come before. We see few actual heroic rescues, and to have a conclusion where the rescue swimmers end up having to save each other after disregarding their training feels anti-climatic and disappointing. The film often feels like it is building to a big, dramatic finale that never appears; something that is a lot harder to forgive than the familiar story and thin characterizations. Formulaic and predictable but solidly made and acted with enough winning performances to keep you engaged throughout. The letdown ending leaves a sour taste in the mouth however.