The Bodyguard (1992 film)

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For the Japanese professional wrestler, see The Bodyguard (wrestler).

The Bodyguard
File:The Bodyguard 1992 Film Poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mick Jackson
Written by	Lawrence Kasdan
Produced by	Kevin Costner Lawrence Kasdan Jim Wilson
Starring	Kevin Costner Whitney Houston Gary Kemp Bill Cobbs Ralph Waite
Cinematography	Andrew Dunn
Edited by	Donn Cambern Richard A. Harris
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Production company	Tig Productions Kasdan Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	November 25, 1992 (1992-11-25)
Running time	129 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Box office	$411 million

The Bodyguard is a 1992 American romantic thriller film directed by Mick Jackson, written by Lawrence Kasdan, and starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. Costner stars as a former Secret Service agent-turned-bodyguard who is hired to protect Houston's character, a music star, from an unknown stalker. Kasdan wrote the film in the mid-1970s, originally as a vehicle for Ryan O'Neal and Diana Ross.

The film was Houston's acting debut and was the second-highest-grossing film worldwide in 1992, making $411 million worldwide. The soundtrack became the best-selling soundtrack of all time, selling more than 45 million copies worldwide.

Plot

Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) is an Academy Award-nominated music superstar who is being stalked and sent death threats. Things get dangerously out of hand when a bomb disguised as a doll explodes in her dressing room. Rachel's manager, Bill Devaney (Bill Cobbs), seeks the services of a professional bodyguard, Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner), to protect her. He is a highly successful private bodyguard, mostly protecting corporate VIPs. Formerly he was a Secret Service agent who served as part of the presidential protection detail during two presidencies. Frank is reluctant to accept the offer to guard Rachel as he sees it as a silly thing to need to do. He does not know that Rachel is oblivious to the threats against her life.

Frank's concerns are quickly realized when Rachel looks upon Frank as being paranoid and his extensive protection techniques as intrusive. Rachel's existing bodyguard Tony (Mike Starr) resents Frank's presence. But at a concert where Rachel is performing, a riot breaks out and Frank rescues her from danger. As a result, the two develop a closer relationship. Frank tries to remain professional, but the two sleep together. However, recognizing that this compromises his ability to protect his client, Frank breaks off their affair. Hurt, Rachel begins to defy Frank's painstaking security measures. She even goes as far as attempting to sleep with his former Secret Service colleague Greg Portman (Tomas Arana). But after she has personal contact with her stalker via a threatening phone call, Rachel realizes that she must put her trust in Frank ahead of her own desire for personal gratification. She finally recognizes the seriousness of the situation and cancels the rest of her tour.

Frank, Rachel, Rachel's driver Henry (Christopher Birt), Rachel's son Fletcher (DeVaughn Nixon), and her sister Nicki (Michele Lamar Richards) then travel to a large lakefront cabin in the mountains, the home of Frank’s father, Herb (Ralph Waite). The next day, while Frank is with Fletcher showing him how to start his boat engine, Herb is preparing dinner, Rachel and he have a nice conversation and Herb reveals that the reason Frank wasn't there the day Reagan was shot was because it was they day they buried his mother. The next day Frank sees that Fletcher has walked to the boat on his own and has successfully started the engine. Terrified, in a fatherly way, Frank's feelings for Rachel and Fletcher overwhelm his judgement and he jumps and collides with Fletcher (who cannot swim) off the boat. While Frank is chastised for being insane Henry points out that the boat is stuck in the middle of the lake which abruptly explodes, meaning Fletcher would have been killed when the bomb exploded inside the boat he had rode moments before. After finding footprints around the cabin and sabotaged automobiles, Frank realizes that Rachel's stalker has followed them. After securing the house for the night, Frank learns that Rachel's obsessive stalker and the person trying to kill her are not the same person. Angry and drunk, Nicki admits that during a drug-induced fit of jealousy she hired a hit-man to kill Rachel, but that the letters from the stalker came before that. However, she cannot call it off because she does not know the killer's identity.

Abruptly, the hit-man breaks into the house and fatally shoots Nicki. Frank, who is armed with a semi-automatic pistol, ensures that his father has secured the rest of the group on the second floor. Upon tracking the killer and then pursuing him into the woods, Frank shoots but misses, allowing the shooter to escape capture. Frank learns the next day, from his Secret Service contacts, that they have apprehended the stalker and were interviewing him when Nicki was shot by the hit-man.

After Nikki's funeral, Frank and Rachel attend the Academy Awards ceremony, where Frank gives Rachel a panic button in the shape of a cross to immediately alert him to any trouble. A host of backstage technical issues hamper Frank's efforts to monitor the proceedings closely due to radio malfunctions with those of the producers of the awards. During the actual show, Rachel freezes and runs offstage, angry at Frank for embarrassing her with overprotective measures. Frank discovers that the hit-man is actually Portman. However, Rachel disregards Frank after her humiliating moment. She returns to the audience and is present when announced as the winner for Best Actress. As she comes toward the stage to accept the award, Frank sees the laser sight of Portman's gun disguised as a camera, pointed at Rachel. As Portman prepares for the fatal shot, Frank runs on stage and leaps in front of Rachel, intercepting the shot. Once Tony sees Portman, he screams to `frank where he is, and thought losing blood, Frank manages to regain his clarity of mind in time to shoot Portman, who was aiming to try a 2nd time, through his camera-gun, killing him. Frank is left wounded and Rachel calls for help — all the while urging him to stay with her as his consciousness begins to fade from the loss of blood.

Cut to what;s assumed to be a few weeks, Frank has recovered apart from an arm sling from the shooting and goes to say goodbye to Rachel at the airport. After the plane starts to taxi, Rachel suddenly jumps out and runs to Frank for one last passionate kiss. The film ends with a scene from Frank's next assignment—protecting a mob-fighting U.S. congressman—where a priest, using the emergency cross earlier given to Rachel, provides a solemn benediction as the lawmaker's new bodyguard keeps a watchful eye.

The iconic "I Will Always Love You" playing throughout, shown to be Rachel singing the song from their date as a tribute to him and how she will always love him.

Cast

• Kevin Costner as Frank Farmer
• Whitney Houston as Rachel Marron
• Gary Kemp as Sy Spector
• Bill Cobbs as Bill Devaney
• Ralph Waite as Herb Farmer
• Tomas Arana as Greg Portman
• Michele Lamar Richards as Nicki Marron
• Mike Starr as Tony Scipelli
• Christopher Birt as Henry Adams
• DeVaughn Nixon as Fletcher Marron
• Gerry Bamman as Ray Court
• Joe Urla as Minella
• Rollin Jarrett as Miami Reporter

Background

Lawrence Kasdan's first screenplay, the film was originally proposed in 1976 with Steve McQueen and Diana Ross in the leads, but the project stalled. It was proposed again in 1979, starring Ryan O'Neal and Ross again in the leads. The project fell through due to irreconcilable differences in the relationship between the two stars. Costner stated that he based Frank Farmer on Steve McQueen; even cutting his hair like McQueen (who had died 12 years earlier).

Olivia Newton-John, Pat Benatar, Madonna, Cher, Joan Jett, Deborah Harry, Liza Minnelli, Janet Jackson, Donna Summer, Terri Nunn, Kim Carnes, Crystal Gayle, and Dolly Parton were all at some point considered for the role of Rachel Marron.

The 1920s Beverly Hills mansion and grounds featured in the film once belonged to William Randolph Hearst; also featured in The Godfather (1972).

Reception

Critical reception

As of October, 2015, The Bodyguard held a 32% rating on the film aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus, "The Bodyguard is a cheesy, melodramatic potboiler with occasional moments of electricity from Whitney Houston." It received seven Golden Raspberry Award nominations, including Worst Picture. Owen Gleiberman, of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the film negatively, stating, "To say that Houston and Costner fail to strike sparks would be putting it mildly." He added that "the movie gives us these two self-contained celebrity icons working hard to look as if they want each other. It's like watching two statues attempting to mate." However, other critics praised the film, such as Roger Ebert, who gave the film three out of four stars, remarking "The movie does contain a love story, but it's the kind of guarded passion that grows between two people who spend a lot of time keeping their priorities straight."

Two songs from the film, "Run to You" and "I Have Nothing", were nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. The soundtrack was also nominated for four Grammy Awards, winning three, including Album of the Year for its album of the same name. The film was nominated for several MTV Movie Awards, an Image Award, BMI Film & TV Awards, a Golden Screen Award in Germany and an Award of the Japanese Academy, according to the Internet Movie Database.

The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.

Box office

In the United States, The Bodyguard opened on November 25, 1992 in 1,717 theaters; it grossed $16.6 million in its opening weekend, ranking third. The film was in theaters for thirteen non-consecutive weeks, ultimately grossing $121.9 million domestically, and $410.9 million worldwide. It was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1992 in North America, and the second highest-grossing film of 1992, worldwide. At the time, it was one of the top 100 highest-grossing films of all time, but it has since been overtaken by other films.

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated
• 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
  • "I Will Always Love You" – #65

Soundtrack

Main article: The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album

The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album became the best-selling soundtrack of all time. It has been certified diamond in the United States (sales of at least ten million) with shipments of over 17 million copies. Worldwide, the sales are over 45 million copies. In addition, Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" sold 12 million units worldwide.

The soundtrack features five songs which were hit singles for Houston: "I Will Always Love You", "I'm Every Woman", the two Oscar-nominated songs, "I Have Nothing" and "Run to You", and "Queen of the Night".

In 2013, La-La Land Records released a limited edition CD (3500 units) of Alan Silvestri's original score.

Parodies

• The Simpsons – in the episode "Mayored to the Mob", Homer Simpson receives bodyguard training from an instructor singing "I Will Always Love You" after graduating his class. Also in the episode, Mark Hamill gets carried by Homer in a fashion which parodies the way Costner carries Houston in the film.
• 30 Rock – in the episode "Hard Ball", Tracy Jordan is rescued from a mob by his entourage; his character sang "I Will Always Love You" during the scene.
• Bulletproof – a scene in the film parodies The Bodyguard with Adam Sandler's character singing "I Will Always Love You" and remarking that Damon Wayans's character can always be his bodyguard.
• The Venture Bros. – in the second-season episode "I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills", after having fallen in love with her charge, Dr. Venture, bodyguard Myra Brandish says she was taught "Never let them out of your sight. Never let your guard down. Never fall in love", the tag line from the film.
• In Living Color - Kim Wayans plays Grace Jones as the Whitney Houston character and Jim Carrey plays the Kevin Costner character, complete with bad hair. The scene when Kevin Costner carries Whitney Houston off-stage from the original movie is reversed with Grace Jones carrying Frank Farmer off while singing "I Will Always Love You".

Sequel and remake

In 2011, Warner Bros. announced a remake that will update the story to reflect the world of the Internet; in which sites such as Twitter, Google Maps and other sites make access to celebrities easier than ever. The remake will be penned by Jeremiah Friedman and Nick Palmer. Singer Rihanna was once sought to play the role of Rachel.

On March 10, 2011, Rihanna ruled out playing the part, saying "Absolutely not. I hate it when singers do singing movies all the time, because you can never look at them as anybody else. I want to play a character. My whole life is playing Rihanna; being a singer won't be a stretch for me."

Musical adaptation

Main article: The Bodyguard (musical)

A musical adaptation of the film opened in London's Adelphi Theatre in the West End in Fall 2012. David Ian, who produces the musical, received the stage rights from Costner, a producer of the film as well as its star, and Kasdan, who wrote the film, reports Baz Bamigboye. The film's famous soundtrack is used as a score for the production. In addition to the mega-hit "I Will Always Love You", the songs include "I'm Every Woman", "Run to You", "Jesus Loves Me", and "Queen of the Night". Several of Houston's other songs are used as well, including "I'm Your Baby Tonight", "How Will I Know", and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". Tony Award-winning actress and singer Heather Headley was cast to play Rachel, the role played in the film by Houston. MOBO Award-winning and BRIT-nominated singer Beverley Knight took over Rachel in September 2013 through to May 2014; she was replaced by Alexandra Burke in June 2014, who was then replaced by Grammy award winning R&B singer Deborah Cox.

External links

• The Bodyguard on IMDb
• The Bodyguard at AllMovie
• The Bodyguard at the TCM Movie Database
• The Bodyguard at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Bodyguard at Box Office Mojo
• The Bodyguard at Rotten Tomatoes

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