Nonureva Really Surprised!

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

JLRMovieReviews Sam Elliott is a lifeguard for a living. Maybe he's running away from life or the real world not having a more professional career. Maybe he's running away from people or his own problems. But from where he's sitting it's a beautiful day every day. And, he feels the benefit of feeling needing and making a difference in the peoples' lives he saves. Also starring Parker Stevenson and Anne Archer, this is a very laid back and moody film, but those are its assets. The film shows the days in the life of a lifeguard, with the supposed advantages and disadvantages to it, and the film excels at giving the viewers complicated, three-dimensional characters. And, Sam Elliott is perfectly cast. He is given an opportunity to get a car salesman job after attending a class reunion, but he's torn by the love of his job and the pull to fit in with the norm. What will he do? The viewer has a good idea, because what would you do?

BeagleBuddy Ahh, the 1970s...the decade that gets no respect, the decade when "nothing happened". Am I the only person who remembers that time with fondness and nostalgia? Maybe it's because I was in my twenties then, or maybe it's because it was back then that I had my first real love affair (Hi Marci! I haven't forgotten you!). Or maybe it's because it was the last decade before Reagan and the crazy right-wingers were able to get their greedy claws into this country and...uh, but I'm getting off topic. Well, whatever the reason, this low-budget, largely forgotten film really strikes a chord with me.When this film was first released in 1976, I remember that it was promoted as one of those idiotic beach and bikini comedies aimed primarily at teenagers. Those who went expecting that kind of movie must have been disappointed, because it's nothing of the kind. Oh, it has some skin and comic-relief moments, but mostly it's a fairly straight, serious drama about a thirty-something guy, Rick Carlson (Sam Elliott), who has reached a time in his life when he has to make some very important decisions. Up to this point he has been happily spending his life as a professional lifeguard at a southern California beach, but a little voice inside him is telling him he can't do this forever, and maybe he should start getting serious about life. He is starting to feel pressure , too, from others...family, friends, younger co-workers...all who want Rick to grow up and move on. But it takes a re-kindled romance with his recently divorced high-school sweetheart to get Rick to start seriously thinking about making some life-altering decisions. And that's the crux of the movie: should he follow his head or his heart? For such a low-budget film the acting is pretty decent. Elliott gives a respectable low-key performance in his first "serious" role (prior to "Lifeguard" he was known chiefly as a TV character actor), and the rest of the cast is also pretty good. The standout is a young Kathleen Quinlan as Wendy, a lonely alienated 17-year-old who, in one of the film's subplots, develops a serious crush on Rick. When he finally succumbs to her advances and takes her into his lifeguard shack, a scene that could have been crude and exploitative is instead handled with tact and even tenderness, thanks to her skillful and nuanced performance.The screenplay is thoughtful and doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence, and the director keeps the film moving along at a good pace and focused on the main character and his story. There is very little in the way of fluff and non-essential elements, and though it may seem like you have to deal with a number of clichéd situations, don't assume you've got this film figured out. The ending may surprise you.And the atmosphere is pure 1970s...the real thing, not some stereotype-laden cartoonish costume-drama version of the 1970s. The cars, the clothes, the hairstyles, the slang, the music...even the hokey theme song by Paul Williams (remember him?!)...somehow it all seems just right. Take it from someone who was there.I was a five years or so younger than Rick in 1976, but I could certainly relate to his predicament, and I'll be willing to bet that there are a lot of young people out there right now who could do the same. Check this movie out if you get a chance. Not a great work of art, maybe, but a fine little film with a message that will resonate with young people of every generation.

Greg Couture Saw this when it came out and, though I never had the leisure to share as much beach time as some of the characters in this film, I did know some of the surf-and-sand denizens of the beaches from Malibu south to San Diego back in the 1970's. I thought this film was a not inaccurate glimpse of what that sun-kissed lifestyle was all about. Sam Elliott was well cast as a lifeguard a few years older than the average athlete who perched on those observation stations, looking out at the Pacific's frequently treacherous waves. He looked the part and had the depth needed to make his character's less-than-monumental struggles to come to grips with his life and his career choice about as convincing as any actor probably could. With some fallow periods in the years since, Sam has continued to work quite steadily, though I've often wished he wasn't so often confined to Western roles. (What would he have done without Ted Turner and TNT and all those made-for-TV Western sagas?) With that distinctively macho growl of his, there's no mistaking who's doing a voice-over for one of the commercials he's done. I've always felt that his speaking voice has been his unique asset as an actor, not to mention the awesome mustache he frequently sports. "Lifeguard" is worth a look if you want a glimpse of southern California before it became impossibly overcrowded and overbuilt...when it was still a semi-paradise for the young and feckless.

bayoudan I first saw this movie about five years after a miserable divorce. I had worked fifteen years supplying a monster home, Mercedes for her, Jag V12 for me, all for nothing. With everything now gone I saw this film not once but two days in a row. The actors, the plot and the Bee-Gee's background music was almost hypnotic. It helped me change my vocation from being corporate cattle, to one that I love doing. A copy rests in my video library and is viewed regularly. It's 5 star to me.