Review of The Bodyguard

Houston, we don't have a problem. At least, not in 1992. In 1992, both Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston could do no, wrong. At the time, Kevin Costner was one of America's most accomplished thespians and Whitney Houston was one of the most popular singers. When you combine them, in the movie, 'the Bodyguard'. You get a semi-OK-masterpiece. This schmaltzy proposal for this film was rejected 67 times before Kevin Costner got the rights. It was originally written by Lawrence Kasdan for Steve McQueen and Diana Ross in the 1970s. Directed by Mick Jackson, the movie tells the story of Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner), a former Secret Service Agent for the President, who became the private bodyguard for international pop star and actress, Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) after she been, receiving death threats from a dangerous stalker. Can Frank save Rachel or will the killer win out in the end? Watch the movie to find out! Without spoiling too much of the film, I found Kevin Costner's acting in this, pretty dull. I know, that his character is supposed to be stern, but gees… they could have, lighten up, the character, a bit. Even, in the lake scenes. He was pretty blend. Despite, that, he made a pretty realistic bodyguard. He was also, a pretty cool, action star at the time. He deserve more credit for this movie, from stopping it from totally tanking with his action scenes. The scene where he was chasing the killer, through the woods was intense. Kevin Costner was so insistent that Whitney Houston and no other black singer/actress play the part that the film production waited 1 year for Whitney to be available to film. In my opinion, it was a good choice. She was a good singer, but not a good actress, even when seemingly playing a variation of herself. Whitney Houston as Rachel, was mediocre, at best. I give her some credit, for at least, trying to act. She did suffered a miscarriage during production and missed a couple of weeks of production recovering, and you can't tell, by her performance, how truly depress, she must have, been at the time. I just glad, Whitney Houston's character wasn't playing like a gimmicky black singer stereotype. Still, most of the movie, I felt that her character was a bit annoying. Even, test audiences, couldn't stand all, her b*tching as the film had to undergo some hasty re-cutting. Still, with those cuts, her character never truly understood, how much, she was in danger, even when, things became really serious and it bugs the living hell out of me. I know, she supposed to play a diva, but I didn't like, how much, Rachel and Frank fought against each other over, how much protection, she needs. It made the romance seem so unrealistic. I didn't think, that the actors have that much chemistry on film. Still, they both look, beautiful, together. One thing that I kinda love about the film, is how brave, the filmmakers were in showing interracial relationships. Even in the 1990s, seeing this was rare. Houston's mainstream appeal allowed people to look at the movie color-blind, and never once, did I find the fact that a black woman and white guy falling in love, jarring. Still, controversy arose as some felt the film's advertising intentionally hid Houston's face to hide the film's interracial relationship. I think, this was made to keep, the movie from being spoiled. The reason The Bodyguard scored more than $410 million worldwide is not, because of the two stars sex appeal. It's the film soundtrack, which to date, as of this writing, stands as the highest selling in movie history. It features six songs by Whitney Houston, including "Queen of the Night," a remake of Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman," "I've Got Nothing," and, of course, her signature cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You." Although her songs make up half of the soundtrack, she is credited for the album's popularity, which in turn drove people to see the film. Two songs from the film, "Run to You" and "I Have Nothing", were nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. While, 'I will always love you' got her, multiply rewards and became one of the best-selling single by a woman in music history. The character of Rachel was originally going to sing "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" instead of "I Will Always Love You", before 1991's film, Fried Green Tomatoes used the former song. Kevin Costner is the one who wanted the song written by Dolly Parton to be sung by Whitney Houston. He convinced Whitney to sing it "a capella" for the movie. Whitney's rendition became so good, that Dolly Parton pretty much, disowned it and gave it to Whitney. Regardless of whether you're a Houston fan, her talent as a singer is what makes the movie halfway watchable. If this movie was made today, it might be an all-out-disaster. Both celebrities went into a shaky time in the late 1990s/early 2000s. While, Whitney Houston's career never really, bound-back, to the success of this film and its soundtrack. She did have some minor hits, before dying in 2012, in a drowning/drug overdose accident. Kevin Costner was able to have some success after his double whammy of post-apocalypse sci-fi flops movies in the mid-1990s, and his career is still going strong. In many ways, he always thought of this movie, as one of his greatest works, and always felt open in making a sequel or remaking it. Celebrities like Rihanna, and Princess Diana was once sought for re-dos. Who knows, if a sequel will be made? Overall: Yes, it could had been better, but I quite enjoyed the film. I do recommended, at least, seeing it, once. In the end, if you don't bother watching the film. At least, try to listen to the soundtrack. You'll probably enjoyed it.