Analyzing The Movie 'The Guardian'

The Guardian is a 2006 action-adventure drama film directed by Andrew David. The lead characters are Ben Randal and Jake Fischer. The setting for the movie is the United States coast guard and their Aviation Survival Technician (AST) program. The movie’s title introduces a mythical tale: people lost at sea often claim they feel something lifting them to the surface, breathing life into their bodies while they are waiting for help to come. They call this something “The Guardian.”
Ben Randall (Kevin Costner), is the top rescue swimmer at the U.S. Coast Guard’s (AST) program. Ben’s love for his work has hurt his marriage, and he arrives home from a life-saving mission to find his wife, Helen (Sela Ward), packing up to leave. “I need to work on
Randall’s wisdom and leadership are outstanding. He doesn't demand respect; he earns it. For example, the newbies are icing down in a pool to teach them the stages of hypothermia and Randall freezes right along with him. He's also a father figure to Fischer, and in time turns the young man into a strong leader.
Randall and Fischer are both shown rescuing people in harsh conditions. One scene has Randall jumping into gigantic crashing waves during a really bad storm that has already sunk a ship and killed a half-dozen lives and he has hopes saving one nearly-frozen boy. In another, Fischer refuses to leave a trapped man below deck in a sinking ship almost killing himself in the process.
The story is told of the senior chief saving 20 people from a doomed medical transport. With the last man, the helicopter winch jams and Randall, dangling from the line, Randall has to hold the man with one hand all the way back to base. He tells him, "I won't let go," which becomes Randall's slogan (and Fischer's) for all future rescues. [Spoiler Warning] At the end of the film, Fischer and Randall are in a similar situation, swinging from a fraying winch cable. Fischer tells him, "I won't let go." Randall loosens his glove and drops 80 feet into the gulping sea in order to save the younger
So there's no surprise in watching a group of people saving lives. That not to say the rescues at sea aren't cool—even if the boats all look like they're highly mechanic CGI waves and overactive dump tanks.
Chest-thumping hoo-rah moments, partially undressed romance, a little foul language here and there. A beer-tipping bar brawl mean this is a genuine, Grade A formula action pic. It also means families will be forced to gasp for air more than few a times if they choose to watch it.
And that's too bad. Because The Guardian also embraces something we haven't seen in a while. It's a movie about sacrifice. And not just the sacrifice when you have to give up a little piece of your delicious cake to your friend, either. This is a film that gives a face to the real people out there who put others first. Someone who's willing to die to save another. It's a film that gives a image and pays tribute to the very real men and women who live and die by the motto "So Others May