Rescue effort

Despite weaknesses, The Guardian does not sink | Andrew Coffin

Thoroughly familiar in almost every way, The Guardian is still an extremely well-crafted and entertaining adventure film. Director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, Holes) knows a thing or two about action scenes, and although the best of these are found only as brackets to a somewhat overlong story, he benefits from a capable cast to keep the audience engaged from start to finish.

The Guardian (rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action/peril, brief strong language, and some sensuality) centers on Coast Guard rescue swimmers, an elite group of men and women who drop from helicopters into raging waters to save drowning victims.

Kevin Costner plays Ben Randall, a veteran rescue swimmer and living legend who is stationed in Kodiak, Alaska. A devastating accident that wipes out his rescue crew (in one of the best sequences in the film) forces Ben to take some time away from his obsessive focus on saving lives. Ben is temporarily assigned as an instructor at the Coast Guard's "A" school, where top rescue swimmers are trained.