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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 25632
Released: January 29, 2002 |
| Our Price: $40.00 |
| Used Price: $19.97 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
After years of being sheltered in private school, Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) finds life difficult at his new Chicago high school where a tough-talking bully (Matt Dillon) and his pals regularly extort students lunch money. Refusing to pay up, Peache hires a bodyguard-the intimidatingly large class misfit (Adam Baldwin) whose rumored violent behavior is legendary. Though everyone else is afraid of him, Peache strikes up a friendship with the troubled loner. Their deepening relationship and unified stand against the thugs manages to rouse the entire school.
Description of My Bodyguard:
The son (Chris Makepeace) of a hotel manager (Martin Mull) finds himself the target of the school bully (Matt Dillon, in his breakthrough movie role). So he makes an offer to a school outcast--the biggest kid in class (Adam Baldwin), who reputedly has actually killed someone. He'll pay him to be his bodyguard against the bully. But the business arrangement turns into friendship, even as the smaller boy learns his new friend's secret shame. The first film by director-producer Tony Bill, this one comes down a little too heavily on the feel-good notes (and includes a gratingly precious appearance by Ruth Gordon in her lovable eccentric mode) but works because of strong performances by its young cast. --Marshall Fine
My Bodyguard Reviews:
Great Movie Great Service 
2009-11-11 - I have wanted this movie for years. i ordered it and it was delivered way before it was supposed to be. An excellent movie and i will order all my movies through Amazon.
A delightful film that still holds up thirty years later
2009-05-27 - First, let me say that any fans of either CHUCK or FIREFLY should definitely get a hold and see this film. This was Adam Baldwin's film debut and seeing him onscreen as a seventeen-year-old is a blast. It is also, by the way, the film debut of Jennifer Beals, though she is not named in the credits. She is very easy to spot, however, what with her dark beautiful looks. It was also one of the first film roles for both Joan Cusack and George Wendt. The film serves as a coming out for a number of Chicago actors.
Few films ever made evoke Chicago as wonderfully as this film. I actually saw it in Connecticut when it was first released (based on two thumbs ups by Siskel and Ebert). I had just gotten into grad school in Chicago and I was excited to get a good look at at the city I knew I was soon going to be living in. The film is still great thirty years after it was made, though Chicago has undergone some amazing changes. For instance, there are multiple scenes showing Linderman (Baldwin) walking through some blighted areas just south of the Loop. All of these areas are now either razed and replaced by condos or gutted and rehabbed. These are all highly gentrified areas now. What I especially love about the location shots in this film is that they don't focus on many of the better known areas, but instead are more localized. Though there are shots in a numbers of areas around the city, most take place south of the Loop (Linderman's neighborhood), the area around Lake View High School on the corner of Ashland and Irving Park (which is about a quarter of a block just north of one of my favorite bars in Chicago, Ten Cat), the Ambassador East, and the lagoon right beside the Lincoln Park Zoo.
The story is a simple one that is very well done. Cliff (Chris Makepeace) is a new student at a Chicago high school. When a gang of bullies led by Moody (Matt Dillon) start harassing him, Cliff hires the most feared kid in the school, Ricky Linderman, to protect him. Cliff becomes intrigued with Ricky, about whom a host of myths and urban legends have arisen. Ricky resists at first, but eventually they become real friends. Truthfully, it is not a complex plot, but the beauty lies in how well the whole thing is told.
So really there are three major reasons to see this movie. First, it is just a fine film. Second, few films show off Chicago in such fine fashion. Third, fans of CHUCK and FIREFLY will get a blast seeing Casey/Jayne as a teenager.
Sleeper Classic
2009-05-20 - I was twelve when I saw this movie in the theater; I remember feeling an extra degree of dread watching it, because I was soon going into junior high. I've seen it several times since, and am surprised each time at how well it holds up. The acting is spot on, Ruth Gordon is perfect, and Adam Baldwin's role is career defining.
Yes, it's a simple story, but perhaps that's why it really strikes a nerve. One of my all time favorites.
Regarding the DVD, there's not much there besides the movie, but in this case, that's certainly enough.
Is THAT your "tough"bike?!? Don't look so tough to ME!!!!
2008-12-20 - This is a very good movie about bullies and the axiom:"Turnabout is fair play." Simply great drama with superb acting!! My favorite part was when"Moody"first meets the"bodyguard"and tries to goad him with:"Is that your tough jacket?" "Don't look so tough to me!"and"Is that your tough bike?" "Don't look so tough to me!!" I found that segment absolutely HILLARIOUS!! My older brother and I used to tease my(tough-guy reputation-having)oldest brother with our own customized/revamped versions of those questions!!One day he came home in a new suit,and we immediately cornered him with:"Is that your tough suit?!?" "Don't look so tough to us!!!"We'd instantly EXPLODE in laughter!! "My Bodyguard"is loved by everyone in my family...For good reason,cause it's a great movie all-around!!
My Bodyguard, has aged well 
2008-06-16 - Along with a terrific cast this is a fun movie from the 1980s with decent clothes and music that doesn't age it badly. Backdrops are of Chicago and you see a couple scenes that Chicagoans will know like the loop, and the Picasso sculpture in the Civic Center Plaza. Several of the cast were kids then and have now grown including Makepeace, Baldwin, and Dillon. Be sure to keep an eye peeled for a young Jennifer Beals of "Flash Dance", not listed in the credits. This is a story about a new kid that is bullied for lunch money by a group of locals. In comes a very large and intimidating kid with stories of murder and mayhem that all the kids are afraid of but the new kid. He immediately approaches this large kid with a questionable past and ask him to be his bodyguard. It takes some convincing but he finally agrees. Don't miss this fun growing up movie. Good quality DVD with plenty of replayability. If you enjoyed this catch "Charlie Bartlett" and "The Karate Kid". - C. Luster
