Stoutor
It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
SnoopyStyle
Secret service agent Doug Chesnic (Nicolas Cage) is tired of guarding widower former First Lady Tess Carlisle (Shirley MacLaine). She makes him essentially a domestic servant. After his three years stint, he is happy to move on from what he considers the worst assignment in the service, but she uses her influence on the current President to keep him on her detail. Earl Fowler (Austin Pendleton) is the driver and Frederick (Richard Griffiths) is her nurse.Shirley MacLaine's dragonlady is not fun, or funny, or even likable. Nicolas Cage isn't that likable either. He's all bitter. I can see the concept but the execution is problematic because I don't like these characters. It's necessary for a comedy to either like the characters or like to laugh at the characters. I feel for Cage suffocating under her but not enough to like him either. The second half does work better as a thriller although it's hard to get invested after not liking the first half.
g-bodyl
Guarding Tess is a light, likable film that has good intentions and is easily entertaining. However, it is pretty forgettable and this film has similar themes and plot points as the much better film, Driving Miss Daisy. Both films are about a younger guy and an older woman going at it with each other before their relationship improved. But all in all, this is a good, light-hearted film.Hugh Wilson's film is about a Special Agent Douglas who has been trained for the very best. Instead, he is assigned to keep watch over former First Lady Tess Carlisle. We realize that these two people have nothing in common and is very hard to get along.The acting is solid. Shirley MacLaine is one of Hollywood's best and rumor has it that this role is very similar to her real-life persona. But, she was magnificent here. Nicolas Cage is also good and his role is very restrained for once. There are other wonderful 90's character actors that take up the screen including Richard Griffiths and James Rebhorn.Overall, this is a delightful, mild-mannered film about two people with nothing in common defying odds so that they begin to respect each other. This is labeled as a comedy, but I can't see why. I hardly laughed, but this works very well as a drama. This film reminds me greatly of Driving Miss Daisy and I think that's a good thing. I rate this film 8/10.
Framescourer
A very run-of-the-mill picture but not without charm. An odd-couple movie with the concept twist of high office this film sits somewhere in the orbit of Driving Miss Daisy and The Bodyguard. Nicholas Cage's Doug Chesnic is aghast to discover that his stint of personal duty towards the former first Lady is being extended indefinitely. Shirley Maclaine can see that this is a thin idea and really works the slow-burn heart of the film only softening her stubborn, lonely widower by increments. There is no attempt made to really work the issue of duty vs individual need - of statutory vs sentimental guardianship - but the film makes its point elegantly enough. 4/10
bob the moo
Doug Chesnic is a secret service agent who happily welcomes his final day guarding Tess Carlisle, the crotchety widow of a former US President. Doug returns to Washington having just about managed to deal with her even when she is at her most difficult – however he has no regrets when it becomes his time to rotate back onto active duty in another assignment. However it transpires that Mrs Carlisle has already called the President and requested that Doug be returned to work her protection duty permanently. Unable to say "no" to a Presidential request, Doug begrudgingly returns to a role that is more butler and nursemaid than it is protection.A very average little affair this film. At first it seems like an amiable if totally unremarkable comedy with the lead two actors bouncing off one another if an enjoyable enough way. This makes up the majority of the film and, although it is instantly forgettable, it is quite pleasing. Cage and MacLaine work it well enough in their respective characters and they have an uneasy chemistry that suits the material. However in the final third it suddenly all goes to pot.It was always going to have a dramatic ending of sorts and I think, given the protector/protected dynamic that it was predictable that Tess was going to be in some sort of peril that Doug needs to save her from. However the way it does it really sucks the life out of the film and the very light touch of the majority means that it can't cope with even a slight knock. Suddenly it becomes all melodramatic and soft, like it has just flopped down to the floor and lost what little spark it did have; it is a really disappointing way for the film to turn out. The support cast add vague interest with faces such as Pendleton, Griffiths and a few others but mostly there is nothing for them to work with.Overall then, an amiable enough film in the main but nothing that you will remember for very long. Sadly what you will remember is the way the final third plummets into mediocrity and melodrama, extinguishing any spark or enjoyment that it may have had in the first part.
