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Parents' Guide to

The Guardian

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Waterlogged rescue flick is too intense for kids.

Movie PG-13 2006 136 minutes
The Guardian Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Mr Josh T.
Mr Josh T. Adult
May 25, 2018
age 12+

Its okay to let other people in

The Guardian provides good examples of despite losing one team that its okay to open yourself up to a different team. Realizing that sometimes letting go of something bad allows you to become a better person then you were. The only violence in this movie is mainly the natural disasters and the aftermaths those things sometimes leave. There is one bar fight but its very quick and not very graphic. Senior Chief although has problems of his own he realizes he must get past his own stuff to allow his newest recruit Jake to open up himself and become a true member of his coast guard team. After That Jake becomes a leader and takes up the mantel of leading a team of coast guard swimmers and rescuing lives. Although the ending is sad it provides a good life lesson message after that.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
harrisonfordlova
harrisonfordlova Adult
January 12, 2009
age 14+

another great movie

This movie is just great. It has a nice message and ending and is just an instant fav or a movie at the top of your list. Its a movie that makes u appreciate what rescue swimmers do (or make me aware of them in the first place with me, lol) and is just a good movie
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Kevin Costner stars as Ben Randall, a veteran Coast Guard rescue swimmer who turns to teaching after a traumatic event leaves him unable to carry on as usual. Ben needs to recover his nerve, while cocky student Jake (Ashton Kutcher) learn to play nicely with others, including his girlfriend, Emily (Melissa Sagemiller). Both teacher and student have suffered; the revelations of that suffering lead each to his own sort of manly re-commitment. At the rescue-swimming training facility, Ben's red-lit nightmares are compounded by the fact that his long-suffering wife, Helen (Sela Ward), has left him. He self-medicates and grumps at the recruits, and for 18 weeks, drills his trainees hard. Ben's methods occasionally alarm and annoy his fellow instructors, including resentful second-in-command Jack (Neal McDonough) and skeptical presiding officer Larson (John Heard). During his down time, Ben calls Helen to beg forgiveness and helps Jake avenge a beating he received from disdainful Navy sailors. Though the trainees' ranks do include a woman, the focus here is on boys learning to be men. Ben and Jake see themselves in each other, pretty much to the exclusion of anyone else. When Emily suggests to Jake that Ben may be "trying to push you to be better," Jake sets her straight: "He knows I'm better than he is!"

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (7 ):

With a retread plot, plenty of boy-bonding action, and a shirtless Ashton Kutcher, this is a by-the-numbers crowd pleaser that's about as dull as a heroic redemption story could be.

Per formula, parallel redemption stories grant "emotional" moments to both Ben and Kutcher's Jake. By the time Jake has his big breakdown scene (he cries, though he doesn't actually say, "I got nowhere else to go!"), it's clear that, for all their earnest, actorly efforts, neither man has a chance against Ron L. Brinkerhoff's hackneyed script.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about ways to deal with trauma. How does the movie make the case that focusing on the future (in the form of students to be taught and lives to be saved) helps Ben overcome his guilt, anger, and frustration? What are other ways -- both successful and unsuccessful -- that people deal with traumatic events? How do Ben and Jake's similarities (ambition, competitiveness, tragic pasts) make them ideal partners? What other movies have used a similar structure (tough veteran mentors young hot shot)? Families can also discuss the work of the Coast Guard, including the unit's heroic rescues on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.

Movie Details

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