Mum's Monday: The Bodyguard (1992)

The start of this film is slow with one exception of the explosion. We can see why the bodyguard, Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) was hired.

On his first day he gets into Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) estate really easily, we can see he has a lot of work to do. For what he is charging Rachel is getting good value for money I believe.

This film highlights the fine line between the security and safety of a home environment and maintaining a normal family life. This shows the latter can be difficult when you are a celebrity who is very much in the public eye.

One of my favourite scenes is when Frank is teaching Henry (Christopher Birt) the chauffeur to drive the limo, if there was a threat to Rachel’s life. Although fun to watch you are made aware there is a serious side to what they are doing.

This film is about protecting a celebrity, so it is good to see Frank so focused on his job, even when Tony (Mike Starr) the original bodyguard tries to be the big shot know it all, Frank spots a threat and acts accordingly. It is also to see Henry obey Frank without question. This shows respect and dedication to the job.

The scene where Rachel is shopping, at first it seems extreme that a bodyguard is there but with a little thought, anything can unexpectedly happen in surprising places. Also in this part as much as Frank doesn’t want it, a connection is forming between client and employee. This part is needed to progress the film to help towards where the makers of this wants it to go.

This film also highlights that Rachel still has a job to do herself, even if it makes the bodyguards job harder, also Henry is learning a lot of new things.

There is nothing worse than a woman scorned as we see in this film, sadly this makes Franks job and life harder. In this part there is a great put down line when a woman comes up to Frank and says she has been ‘watching him’. His reply is brilliant.

After a chilling phone call Rachel gets the idea of what it means to be kept safe and she ends up in an unexpected place, much to Frank’s Dad Herb Farmer (Ralph Waite) delight, even though he is out of touch.

The film makes me question how much can Nicki (Michele Lamar Richards) Rachel’s sister can take? First Rachel has taken the limelight Nicki hope for herself, then Frank gets close to Rachel and then frank says that he doesn’t like big dogs. And Nicki owns a St. Bernard dog and they are obvious a big dog. It all adds up.

Life at the cabin takes a dark turn luckily at first no one is hurt, they just got cold and wet, as a result a twist is emerging sadly ending in a tragedy.

It’s ‘Oscar time’ a big night, frank knows who is after Rachel and as much as it is sad to see Rachel being embarrassed, it is good to see Tony step up and want to do his job as well as Frank does his.

After an eventful night in more ways than one at the Oscars, the meaning of the song ‘I will always love you’ comes into play. It is amusing to hear that Rachel’s new bodyguard has grey hair and why that is the case.

Overall a good protective film.