My Bodyguard (1980)

My Bodyguard (1980)


My Bodyguard is a forgotten little gem of a movie. It is one of those movies you never hear of, but then you stumble across  it and fall in love with. This is a coming-of-age drama about how to gain revenge on the high school bullies; by hiring a guy who’s bigger and stronger than the bullies. The story is engaging, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt. It can also be a little predictable at times, mainly towards the end. The performances by the younger actors are phenomenal, and unlike many films that feature mostly younger actors, you actually care what happens to these well-developed characters.

 

Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) is the new kid in town. His popularity instantly diminishes when he insults the tough bully, Moody (Matt Dillon). Moody is a punk who makes a career extorting lunch money from kids. They pretend to protect the kids from the school legend, Linderman (Adam Baldwin). It is rumored that Linderman, a tall freak of nature is a cold-blooded killer. Clifford befriends him and learns that Linderman is just a high school kid going through the growing pains like everyone else. Clifford decides to hire Linderman to keep him safe from Moody, but at what cost?

 

The acting is phenomenal, especially from the younger cast. Chris Makepeace was perfectly cast. There’s nothing special about the character as he is just your average teenager, and that makes for a more realistic and engaging portrayal. Matt Dillon fits the bill as your clichéd bully: devilishly handsome, full of cowardice, and just your typical high-school bully that we all remember. Adam Baldwin really brought something to his character. Instead of a one-dimensional character, we get somebody we can feel for. He came from a rough background and the movie really fleshens that vulnerability out. As for adults, we get some interesting performances from Ruth Gordon as Clifford’s grandmother and John Houseman as a hotel executive. The movie actually has a weird, albeit entertaining subplot romance between the two characters. This movie also marks the major film debut by Joan Cusack as one of the teens, and she delivers a solid performance.

 

This movie isn’t your ordinary coming-of-age film. Many films of this era had teenagers or schoolkids portrayed as cartoonish characters we could not entirely relate with. The one great thing about this movie is how grounded these teenagers are. The movie may not be entirely plausible, but the characters are. The movie is just sweet, charming, and a little predictable. There is a culmination of the main characters for a huge fight towards the end that I have seen from a mile away, but even those sequences are meaningful. For a first-time director, Tony Bill did a great job! This is a little gem of a film that I can recommend.

 

My Grade: A-

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