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This is one of those little movies that sort of grow on you. The first time that I watched it, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. I felt that the movie lacked something, it lacked meaning and substance. I watched it again a few days later and got a completely different feel for it. I was wrong. This was a film about the human situation, about loneliness and feeling like everything important in one's life was taken away, and nobody can say why. Tess Carlisle is a former First Lady. Her husband of many years, and many political campaigns, abruptly died in the White House. Now his Vice President is President, and she is suddenly out of the picture. All of the efforts and dreams of finally reaching the top, and now, its all over. Now, her life is in the fish bowl with Secret Service agents around the clock in her home. One of her husband's agents, Doug Chesnick (Nicolas Cage), is the head of the detail, and it just seems like he and Mrs. Carlisle just can't see eye to eye on anything. He is a somber faced, Man who isn't There, type who takes her security very seriously, and she just feels that the reigns are too tight. Constant flareups occur. She has her chauffeur run off and leave them stranded. She throws them out of her house, and when Doug tells her that if she is so unhappy that she has to be protected, she can refuse protection, she does so. The President is furious and calls Doug and tells him to bury the hatchet and basically quit making waves! Talk about being between a rock and a hard place! These two people, deep down have genuine feelings for each other. On a visit from Tess's son, it doesn't take long for her to realize that he is only there to bilk money out of her for a hair-brained investment. She refuses and he leaves. While watching some videos of her time as First Lady, she is watching the films of her husband's funeral. At one point she sees her son, who apparently seems unaffected, and at the same time sees Doug, who is very emotionally fighting back tears. She and Doug begin a close relationship at this point. In many ways she now sees in him the son that she doesn't any longer see in her son. Doug finds out that Tess has a brain tumor that is inoperable and is probably the culprit of these sometimes outrageous actions to which both he and his team have been subjected. Tess wants Doug to go on a picnic with her one day. The weather is cold, and they are by a remote lake. While packing up to leave, Tess and her chauffeur take off again. This time the limo and driver are found hours later. He has been drugged and she is gone. Suddenly, there are all sorts of superiors all over the place and Doug and his team are being blamed for the kidnapping and treated like "Jackasses". Doug figures it out and will not be told to stand down. He figured out that the chauffeur is in this and after shooting off one of his toes in the hospital, he told them where she was. The had her buried alive in a barn, and weren't planning to dig her up either. Tess is rescued and they are completely exonerated from any guilt. Doug and Tess are now best friends, and have truly established a tender relationship. This was a really good movie, and you will think so too!Read full review
Product Details: Actors: Edward Albert, Susan Blommaert, Nicolas Cage, Stephen S. Chen, Mark Conway Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) Subtitles: English, Spanish, French Region: Region 1 Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Number of discs: 1 Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: Sony Pictures DVD Release Date: April 15, 1998 Run Time: 96 minutes ASIN: 076780676X Product Description: A warm funny look at life outside the white house about a cantankerous former first lady and the unwilling secret service agent assigned to her detail. Tempers and humor run high as these adversaries go head to head and discover a surprising friendship. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 09/27/2005 Starring: Shirley Maclaine Nicolas Cage Run time: 95 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Hugh Wilson Doug Chesnick, played by Nicolas Cage, is the secret service agent assigned to protect President Carlisle's widow Tess, played by Shirley MacLaine. He chafes at the unimportance of his assignment but he especially would like to get away from her! She's difficult, rude, arbitrary, and won't let them do their jobs effectively. But when his current assignment is over and he gladly returns to Washington, he is told he has to go back. Tess called the president and wants him to stay. It is an almost constant battle of wills between them, with Tess usually winning. A key scene is of her wheeler-dealer businessman son (Edward Albert)coming to ask her to endorse a high-end golf club/housing development. He simply came there to use her. It is there in her face that she knows this, as she turns him down. Later, she is viewing video of television coverage of her husband's funeral, during which her son appears to be feeling nothing, while Doug's composure breaks. Brief, and covered quickly, but there's no doubt how he felt. Nicolas Cage is certainly a very good actor. We understand that Tess wants Doug close to her because he loved her husband and is the son she wished she had. Also, no one knows that she has an inoperable brain tumor and does not have long to live. Suffice it to say that her affection for him is justified when she is kidnapped. To Doug's great professional humiliation, top agents descend from Washington and take control; but Doug, unlike anyone else in the agency, realizes almost at once who is responsible and stops at nothing to extract the information he needs to save Tess's life. In the hands of two less-edgy actors it would probably be completely forgettable; but it works. Highly recommended. By A ReaderRead full review
Take a feisty ex First Lady who is being guarded somewhat against her will by Secret Service Agents..Cage plys his role perfectly..Tess makes a valid point about how the Government wastes money giving protection to ex White House Occupants..What other job do you know where the employee is replaced by another employee and is still paid and given work perks despite no longer being employed at that job..does our Gov. know how to waste/spend money or what?? Maclaine plays Tess a ex First Lady left widowed by her at one time President hubby..Cage plays her no nonsense Guard who craves action and danger instead what he gets is a crotchety bored ex first Lady who just wants some alone time..the bond between these two characters exists even though they themselves can't see or feel it we viewers get a huge look at this loving Mother/Son bond that exists even though they are not bound by blood they are bound by something much stronger..Guarding Tess is a fun mix of comedy, action, twists and turns only Shirley Maclaine and Nicholas Cage can and do deliver..I give this film 5 out of 5 bars!!Read full review
There is many twists and turns throughout the movie both actors are entertaining. I would also recommend this movie to anyone who likes these types of movies.
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What do you get when you put a crusty, self-determined ex-First Lady, Tess(Shirley MacLaine), who is forced to be in every day contact with a dead-pan serious and bored to death Secret Service Agent (Nicolas Cage) assigned to guard Tess as a "national treasure" by the current President of the United States? Sharp comical embattlements that she almost always wins, except one. Cage wants to be a real Secret Service Agent involved in street action with his trusty gun, a gun he is required to leave outside of Maclaine's bedroom, where most of their unrelenting satirical encounters occur. Cage feels diminished to a trained professional leading a crew to do detail work that involves finding out which aisle peas are on in the grocery store. Tess feels her privacy is constantly invaded, too old to care for herself, so she acts out big time by stubbornly refusing to sit in the limousine where she is most protected and supposed to be, for instance. Cage orders the chauffeur to turn the motor off until she complies with Secret Service rules and is buckled into the appropriate seat. Score one for the Agent. And that's how it goes throughout the film. One comical struggle after another. Though the top Secret Service guy on detail (Cage) is humiliated by performing such menial tasks, he's developed a close attachment to the former First Lady. And she has done likewise with him. When Tess really is kidnapped, Cage finally earns her respect and his self-esteem.Read full review
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