This blog is in danger of becoming a movie-review only format…maybe I should get out more. And do something that doesn’t involve sitting on my duff for two hours.

Anyway, last night I watched The Guardian. It was okay, I guess. I do like Kevin Costner (N vehemently disagrees – I watched this one by myself), and think that he was well-suited for this particular role. He does excel at portraying the tormented, brooding hero. At first my opinion of Ashton Kutcher was not nearly so favorable, but he mellowed and became more likeable as the movie went on.

It definitely went on a bit too long, though. The story was very drawn out, and I think that there were too many different storylines going (Costner’s post-traumatic stress situation, Kutcher’s attempt to get the girl, the three-peat classmate’s panic problem, Costner’s attempts to get his girl, the conflict between Costner and the previous lead instructor…) – there was just too much to try and keep track of. Really, they had enough material for two or three separate movies. The first 20 or so minutes sets up the second story, which goes on for about an hour and a half, basically all just to set up the last half-hour.

I will say that parts of it were extremely well done – very emotional and touching. (I actually cried several times – full-on sobbing, not just watery eyes.) Unfortunately, their value was almost negated by the weird, choppily-edited music montage that looked like it had been filmed with a home video camera. I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t care for that style of cinematography, so that was definitely a strike against. That one scene really messed with the overall flow of the film (such as it was – see above).

Overall, The Guardian was worth watching. Seriously slow in some parts, pretty cliché in others (N’s take on the five minutes he saw: “Looks like a waterlogged rip-off of Top Gun to me.”), but definitely not a bad movie. If you like Kevin Costner and have 2 hours and 19 minutes to spare, you should give it a try.