I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing The Guardian. I mean really, how many movies can they make this year about “heroes” and what they mean to us? For once, I would like to see a “hero” movie that won’t make me cry but more like laugh or just be entertained. The Guardian is a typical hero movie, in that I cried, and there definitely wasn’t much laughing. But, I was surprised at how the story moved me.

Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher star in this heroic tale about a Coast Guard diver who loses his crew on a mission and is given the option of either becoming a teacher at the Coast Guard training school or becoming a civilian. He opts for the teaching position and welcomes his class of trainees with a “do it or fail” attitude. One trainee (Ashton Kutcher) was a star swimmer in high school who is out to be the best in his class; but it is his past story, the lose of his swim team in an accident, that helps him connect with his trainer and realize the importance of teamwork.

Teamwork is really what the movie is about. There isn’t any real “I” part in the whole thing, even though emotionally there is. It is a familiar type of heroic movie, where something bad happens to the main character in the beginning and he has to do something that is below him till he can get back on his feet. Along the way, the main character will meet someone who is cocky and naïve and mold him into the man he used to be. In the end there is always danger as the two characters work together to be heroes.

There were some good points to the movie worth noting. This was a good role for Ashton Kutcher, to show he can be more than just a funny guy. He did a decent job with it and I was quite impressed. Also, seeing Kevin Costner again was a nice thing. It is always nice to have such a great actor be on the screen. It seems like he is making a come back from being out of the game for a while. The disturbed ocean rescue scenes were quite awesome, whether they were real or computer generated. In the ocean scenes you could almost feel how cold it was. At least the director did something right. Finally, it was good to see a film about a branch of our military that isn’t as well publicized as the Navy or the Army. The Coast Guard does a great deal of serious, life and death work and should be recognized.

Even though it has some good points, I didn’t think that much of the movie. It’s nothing to write home about and I surely won’t remember to tell my friends to see it. Just from the previews of this movie, I already knew the ending. If you couldn’t guess the ending from the previews of the movie on TV then go see the movie. That way, you will be one of the view people in the world to be “genuinely” surprised.

I wouldn’t recommend this movie to people that really enjoy a good, deep, thought provoking or highly creative film. This is more for the people who are looking to be entertained for 2 hours and not have to think about the film’s meaning or the “strange” parts of the film. This movie will be out of your head 15 minutes after you walk out of the show. So, if you are looking for any old movie to see this month you could see The Guardian, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Save your $8 for a rainy day with a good movie.