Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
ThedevilChoose
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
BelSports
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
jasonkellythompson
Like many people my age, I was raised on cable TV. No babysitter was needed. All my folks had to do was plop me down in front of the television set and basically "set it and forget it." I was a very low-maintenance child. Anyway...I was about 8 or 9 years old when I first stumbled upon "My Bodyguard". It was truly a movie I grew up watching. Being so young the first time I saw it, there was no way I could fully appreciate everything it had to offer. Sure, at first I noticed that "kids" were involved. And the fact they too went to school. And sure they sounded a lot like the people around me. And then there was a fight at the end. I took it at face value the first time I saw it. I mean how great could it have been to an 8 year old? There weren't any Muppets in it. Then I saw the film again and again. It was on a constant loop back then. After all, HBO had just gone 24/7 and they were desperate for content. So the older I grew and the more I was exposed to the real world, the better the film got. Slowly, I began to realize how accurate "My Bodyguard" was to the real world. For those of you who don't know, "My Bodyguard" is about a new kid at school who is being picked on by a bully and his cronies. And instead of giving in to them (like everyone else), this new kid decides (quite brilliantly) to "hire" the most feared kid in school to be his bodyguard. And in doing so, the new kid "Clifford" slowly befriends the feared, mysterious giant "Ricky Linderman". I get goosebumps every time I think about it.So, over the course of three or four years, I must of seen this film a good ten-twenty times. And I started to realize that there was a Clifford Peache in my school. And depending upon the day, it could be me. Not only that, but the school bully in the film, Melvin Moody (the excellent Matt Dillon), he went to my school too! As did Ricky Linderman. It got to the point, where no matter which way I turned, I saw every character in that movie at my school...in my life. "My Bodyguard" is probably the first movie I truly related to. Of course, it's like I said, I "grew up" watching this movie.
Danii Disaster
A timeless classic that, like wine, only improves with age.This is one of those movies you could watch over and over again and not get bored of.When you watch this movie for the first time, you become really intrigued by Linderman's character. You can't wait to find out what his 'secret' is. Baldwin was exceptionally good in this movie... as well as the rest of the cast, actually.Matt Dillon is also excellent. He's a very talented actor. Not one to be typecast, he can portray both - the bully (here) and the victim (Saint to Fort Washington) perfectly well.Unlike most teen movies that are produced nowadays, this one is NOT generic, clichéd, predictable, over-the-top, unconvincing or boring. "My Bodyguard" gets everything just right -- it's a very griping and entertaining piece. The actors are doing such a good job that it really makes you root for them. The script is also very good.Even if you're not fond of this particular genre, you're bound to like this movie.Definitely worth watching. No, it's worth OWNING.
TxMike
I somehow missed this one in the 1980s. I was able to watch it via Netflix streaming movies. It is about a new kid at a Chicago public high school, 10th grade, and right away he encounters the local kid bully, who makes the weaker kids pay him every day for "protection." But the new kid refuses, and soon his time at school is made miserable by the bully and his friends.Chris Makepeace, who doesn't seem to have gone anywhere as an actor, was 15-yr-old Clifford. His mom had died, and his dad was the manager of a nice hotel in downtown Chicago. His eccentric grandmother lived with them. A very young and somewhat small Matt Dillon was the pretty boy bully, Moody. He played this role very well. But the one I liked most was Adam Baldwin, making his movie debut as the bigger, taller, but troubled student Linderman. None of the other kids wanted to get near him, and rumors were that he had killed people. But Clifford decided to befriend him, and ask him to be his "bodyguard", and in return he would pay him and help him with his homework. (Note, Baldwin, now in his 40s, is currently in a recurring role as a CIA agent in the TV series 'Chuck.') Another interesting young actress was a teenage Joan Cusack as one of the students, Shelley.Anyway the "bodyguard" thing didn't quite work out, Linderman didn't really want anything to do with that, but he and Clifford became friends anyway, and they went scrap yard hunting together, to find parts for an old motorcycle Linderman was rebuilding. Many of the scenes were shot in Lincoln Park, a place we visited a couple of years ago, it was fun seeing it from 30 years back.Nice movie, a chance to pull for the good guys. SPOILERS: The reason Linderman didn't want to get involved, he had accidentally been responsible for his kid brother getting shot and killed when the two of them were playing with a loaded pistol at home. Linderman lied to authorities, said he found the gun in his brother's hand, when in fact it was in his own hand when the shot was fired. So when Moody hired his own, somewhat older "bodyguard" Mike, in a confrontation in the park Linderman not only did not fight, he let them take his motorcycle, dump it in the pond, then he ran away. However after admitting to Clifford what his real issue was, in a second confrontation in the park, while retrieving his motorcycle, Linderman had to fight, and beat up Mike, while Clifford fought, and broke Moody's nose, with some coaching from Linderman. Thus the two bullies were neutralized and presumably all was going to be well.
icreeem
I was exactly the same age as the main character when this movie came out (sophomore year, 1980) and saw it on cable TV. I knew each one of these characters well and it could have been filmed in my suburban high school. I had nothing but hatred for Matt Dillon's character, as I was one who did not need a bodyguard but learned to fight off the Melvin Moodys in my own life. His performance was fantastic, especially after having found the local brute Mike to beat Linderman up for him; he gets cocky and starts taking advantage of the reversed situation, which only hurts him in the end ("you broke my nose!!"). Great acting from kids I felt I really knew, and it's not surprising to see who went on to fine acting careers (Dillon and Baldwin).
