Will definitely rescue some moviegoers from the post-summer doldrums, but someone should have told Davis that there's going to be casualities if he leaves audiences in the water that long.

| Mar 24, 2007

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 14, 2006

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 13, 2006

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 8, 2006

| Original Score: C- | Sep 30, 2006

Kutcher and Costner have a kind of visual chemistry that's just as elusive as the other kind. And the connection and contrast between them remind us that Hollywood isn't as forgiving of older male actors as we like to think.

Full Review | Sep 29, 2006

Kutcher may soon be ready to anchor a Hollywood sea voyage. But for now, he's still a touch out of his depth.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 29, 2006

The Guardian does the job required: nothing more, nothing less, and nothing fancy.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 29, 2006

Little about The Guardian will surprise anyone from one scene to the next, though the ride is hardly unpleasant and the story is generous in scope.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 29, 2006

The Guardian has the feel of a Sunday feature in a newspaper more than a drama.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 29, 2006

Costner is suitably Costneresque -- that is, low-key, stoic, and capable of a wry turn here or there.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 29, 2006

If you're going to drop $70 mil or so on a movie, you should go ahead and blow $9.99 on the deluxe tier of cable service so you can see how such characters are created on Rescue Me.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 29, 2006

A popcorn flick like this does best when it sticks to shallow waters.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 29, 2006

Entertaining enough but strictly in a wait-for-cable way.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 29, 2006

Valor does emerge in The Guardian, but often is eclipsed by an effects-driven star vehicle.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 29, 2006

Both veteran director Andrew Davis and writer Ron L. Brinkerhoff know a cliché when they see one... so they dutifully point them out to us in this predictable tale of a much-decorated rescue swimmer passing the torch to a promising new recruit.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 29, 2006

While it's not completely waterlogged, The Guardian is more than a bit soggy. It begins efficiently familiar and ends with a series of splashes that seem like desperate dogpaddling.

| Original Score: C- | Sep 29, 2006

Costner and Kutcher spark some real chemistry in their scenes together, but The Guardian takes a weird and unwelcome turn in its final 45 minutes and goes off the deep end.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 29, 2006

It's a pleasure to watch Costner. He continues to operate in a comfort zone where aging and foxiness co-exist. (Harrison Ford, take note.)

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 29, 2006

The Guardian isn't the worst aqua-themed movie of Kevin Costner's career. Not with Waterworld in his rearview mirror.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 29, 2006