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My Bodyguard
Fox // PG // January 29, 2002
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Fifteen-year-old Clifford Peach (Chris Makepeace) is bright and resourceful... and it's lucky for him that he is, because he'll need all his wits to get himself out of trouble at his new high school. The problem is that Clifford refuses to go along with the extortion schemes of the resident bully (Matt Dillon). Caught between a rock and a hard place, Clifford turns to an even tougher kid for help, thus forming an unlikely alliance that has the potential to turn into friendship.
A snapshot description of My Bodyguard would be that its substance is that of a short TV-movie that's been fluffed out enough to just barely pass as a feature film. The movie is only 96 minutes long, and even so, a large section of it feels a lot like padding. The main storyline is that of Clifford and his attempts to deal with bullying at school. Running parallel to this storyline is another one dealing with Clifford's life at home in the hotel where his father is the manager, where his unorthodox grandmother "livens things up" by propositioning eligible men in the bar, and the assistant manager schemes to get Clifford's father fired. However, the two storylines barely connect, and don't add anything to one another at all; either one of them could stand alone as a reasonably interesting short piece, but they don't really fit together as two halves of the same film.
This is not to say that My Bodyguard isn't entertaining. In fact, it's fairly diverting, and it has several points to its credit. One of the most interesting parts of watching the film, which was made in 1980, is seeing Matt Dillon and Joan Cusack in very early roles. It's also fun to see a high-school movie that features actors who actually look the right age... unlike the more typical cast of actors in their late twenties pretending to be fifteen or so.
Video
My Bodyguard falls smack into the middle of the spectrum of video quality. It's about what you might expect for a twenty-year-old movie slapped onto DVD without any cleanup. On the bright side, the 1.85:1 widescreen image is anamorphically enhanced, the picture is generally free of print flaws, and edge enhancement is not noticeable. However, the image is fairly noisy, and quite grainy; the overall image has a blurry quality to it. Colors are slightly muddy and dull as well. Overall, it's watchable, but not great.
Audio
I have to comment that the choice of soundtrack is a bit odd for this movie. The music is light and lively, which makes sense for the general tone of the film, but the soundtrack persists in being oddly cheerful even when the on-screen events are quite serious, as when Clifford is being chased by a gang of bullies intent on beating him to a pulp.
The sound quality itself is relatively good. It's only presented in Dolby 2.0, with no particular surround effects, but the sound itself is clear and distortion-free.
Extras
My Bodyguard has next to nothing in the special features department, with only a set of TV spots and trailers, and a pan-and-scan version of the film.
Final thoughts
Was it fun to watch? Sure. Will I watch it again? Probably not. My Bodyguard is a light and fluffy hour and a half's entertainment, not bad but without much substance. Perfect for a rental.
A snapshot description of My Bodyguard would be that its substance is that of a short TV-movie that's been fluffed out enough to just barely pass as a feature film. The movie is only 96 minutes long, and even so, a large section of it feels a lot like padding. The main storyline is that of Clifford and his attempts to deal with bullying at school. Running parallel to this storyline is another one dealing with Clifford's life at home in the hotel where his father is the manager, where his unorthodox grandmother "livens things up" by propositioning eligible men in the bar, and the assistant manager schemes to get Clifford's father fired. However, the two storylines barely connect, and don't add anything to one another at all; either one of them could stand alone as a reasonably interesting short piece, but they don't really fit together as two halves of the same film.
This is not to say that My Bodyguard isn't entertaining. In fact, it's fairly diverting, and it has several points to its credit. One of the most interesting parts of watching the film, which was made in 1980, is seeing Matt Dillon and Joan Cusack in very early roles. It's also fun to see a high-school movie that features actors who actually look the right age... unlike the more typical cast of actors in their late twenties pretending to be fifteen or so.
Video
My Bodyguard falls smack into the middle of the spectrum of video quality. It's about what you might expect for a twenty-year-old movie slapped onto DVD without any cleanup. On the bright side, the 1.85:1 widescreen image is anamorphically enhanced, the picture is generally free of print flaws, and edge enhancement is not noticeable. However, the image is fairly noisy, and quite grainy; the overall image has a blurry quality to it. Colors are slightly muddy and dull as well. Overall, it's watchable, but not great.
Audio
I have to comment that the choice of soundtrack is a bit odd for this movie. The music is light and lively, which makes sense for the general tone of the film, but the soundtrack persists in being oddly cheerful even when the on-screen events are quite serious, as when Clifford is being chased by a gang of bullies intent on beating him to a pulp.
The sound quality itself is relatively good. It's only presented in Dolby 2.0, with no particular surround effects, but the sound itself is clear and distortion-free.
Extras
My Bodyguard has next to nothing in the special features department, with only a set of TV spots and trailers, and a pan-and-scan version of the film.
Final thoughts
Was it fun to watch? Sure. Will I watch it again? Probably not. My Bodyguard is a light and fluffy hour and a half's entertainment, not bad but without much substance. Perfect for a rental.
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