Themes: Protecting the Innocent, Bodyguards, Getting Along
Main Cast: Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon, Ruth Gordon, John Houseman, Martin Mull
Release Year: 1980
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
This quietly compelling film explores the hardships and anxieties of high school with intelligence, sensitivity, warmth and humor. Chris Makepeace stars as a shy, bookish student who has recently moved to Chicago and begun a new school. There he finds himself the target of a group of punks led by Matt Dillon (ideally cast as the weasel-like bully), who threaten him each day to turn over his lunch money for protection...or else. When he stands up to them, he nearly loses his dental work before being saved by Ricky Lindemann (Adam Baldwin), a hulking loner rumored to have murdered his own brother. Makepeace offers the boy a job as his bodyguard, and the two become unlikely friends -- that is, until the ousted bullies find a champion of their own who challenges Lindemann. When Lindemann refuses to fight back, he disappears into reclusion, and the bullying begins anew, worse than ever. Makepeace then learns the truth about Lindemann's past: he did indeed kill his brother, but the death was an accident while the two young boys were playing with a gun, and Lindemann lives tortured by guilt as a result. Just when things seem at their worst, the bodyguard returns to face his nemesis as Makepeace and Dillon square off in the final showdown of good versus evil. The real strength of the film is its handling of the relationships between its characters, particularly between Makepeace and Baldwin, and Makepeace and his family (Martin Mull and Ruth Gordon). My Bodyguard is light but thoughtful entertainment with a Rocky theme that's suitable for the entire family. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
Review
My Bodyguard is propelled by some fine acting from its primarily young cast. The performances of the main teen players (Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, and Matt Dillon) and the supporting adults (Ruth Gordon and Martin Mull) are convincing and genuine. Dillon made a splash in 1979's dystopian Over the Edge, and he stands out here as the creepy school bully. The interplay between Makepeace and Baldwin, however, is the film's most compelling aspect. The film was clearly cast in the same underdog-champion mold of the Rocky films, but it also had a deceptively sweet tone that went against the grain of the usually bitter teen pictures of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Such a sweetness prefigured the explosion of the teen comedy-dramas of the mid-1980s, notably the films of John Hughes. The picture was a critical and popular success, and it marked the feature-film directorial debut of actor-producer Tony Bill. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Craig Richard Nelson - Griffith; Paul Quandt - Carson; Hank Salas - Mike; Joan Cusack - Shelley; Kathryn Grody - Miss Jump; Dean Miller - Hightower; Tim Reyna - Koontz; Richard Bradley - Dubrow; Denise Baske - Leilani; Jennifer Beals; Patrick Billingsley; Dick Cusack; Dean Devlin - Boy; Eddie Gomez; Bruce Jarchow - Roberto; Tim Kazurinsky - Workman; Marge Kotlisky - Mrs. Linderman; Vicky Nelson - Freddy; Tom Reilly; George Wendt - Engineer; Dorothy Scott - Librarian; Allison Caine
Credit
Phillip Goldfarb - Associate Producer, Michael Daves - First Assistant Director, Tony Bill - Director, Stu Linder - Editor, Melvin Simon - Executive Producer, Dave Grusin - Composer (Music Score), Jackson de Govia - Production Designer, Michael D. Margulies - Cinematographer, Don Devlin - Producer, Melvin Simon - Producer, Jeannine Oppewall - Set Designer, Tim Kazurinsky - Screenwriter, Alan Ormsby - Screenwriter
Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) is the new kid at Lake View High in Chicago. Clifford, who arrives at school in a hotel limo, soon becomes a target of abuse from school bully Melvin Moody (Matt Dillon). Moody and his gang of thugs (Dubrow, Koontz, and Hightower) regularly terrorize and extort lunch money from other students (supposedly "protection" from school outcast Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin) who, according to school legend, killed his own little brother). Living with his hotel-manager father (Martin Mull) and wildly eccentric but loving grandmother (Ruth Gordon) in a fancy hotel, Clifford spends his nights with his family relaxing on the roof garden and spying on the neighbors through a telescope. When he asks Linderman to be his bodyguard, Linderman initially refuses, but both boys soon become friends when Ricky saves Clifford from a beating by Moody and his gang. A reluctant friend, Ricky naturally distances himself as he silently deals with emotional issues over the death of his 9-year old brother only a year earlier. The relationship between Clifford and Ricky is rocky at first, until Ricky takes Clifford under his wing. Possibly a project for healing, Ricky has been rebuilding a motorcycle that he cherishes, yet he cannot find the one last part he needs to complete it. Forging their bond, they both set out on a quest to find the part. Clifford eventually discovers the missing part in a junk yard, and Ricky is overjoyed. Later, as Clifford and Ricky eat lunch at a local park, Moody and his gang approach them. Moody has enlisted the help of an older bodybuilder named Mike, whom he announces is his bodyguard. During a showdown at a public park, Mike physically abuses Ricky and damages his motorcycle before Moody pushes it into the lake. Ricky runs away in a fury, and later shows up at Clifford's apartment to ask for money, ostensibly to pay for a tow/lake extraction for the motorcycle. Feeling used, Clifford follows him and the two argue before Ricky reveals to Clifford that he'd accidentally shot his brother while babysitting him at home. His guilt is overwhelming, but he later gathers the strength to fight back as Clifford, Moody, Mike and Ricky meet again at the park for a final showdown. Once they get to the park Moody approaches Ricky and says that Ricky's bike now belongs to him. When Ricky refuses Moody calls over Mike and the two begin to fight. After Ricky starts to win against Mike, Moody jumps on Ricky's back. Clifford eventually musters up the courage to fight Moody himself and takes Moody off of Ricky's back; the two fight their own battle. Eventually, Ricky knocks out Mike and then turns his attention to Moody. But instead of fighting Clifford's battle for him, he lets Clifford fight his own battle while giving him advice. Clifford eventually gets the better of Moody, and the movie ends with Ricky asking Clifford to be his bodyguard.
