The Guardian
Theme: Sacrifice/Salvation
Big Theological Idea: Vicarious Substitutionary Atonement - Jesus died in our place, for our sins, to make us one with God.
Overview: The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, is a story of heroism and bravery in the face of death. Getting the chance to glimpse into the stories of true heroes, the viewer is rushed into the tumultuous world of Coast Guard Rescue swimmers and the lives they impact. This story of sacrifice and salvation, of bravery and humility begs the viewer to answer a simple question: How much is another life worth?
Scene 1: To The Rescue
In this opening scene, the viewer is catapulted into a daring rescue of two boaters adrift in the raging Bering Sea. Upon finding entering the water, Senior Chief Ben Randall, a rescue swimmer, finds a couple on the verge of drowning. When the husband’s innate survival instinct kicks in, he tries to drown his own wife in order to be rescued first. This illustration of utter human depravity does not stop Randall from saving the man and his wife, irrespective of whether he deserved it. Many times in our own walk, we find ourselves drowning in our own folly, in need of a “fisher of men” who will enter the water surrounding us and use any means necessary to save us from our impending ruin.
O Lord, what is man that you regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.
Stretch out your hand from on high;
rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
(Psalm 144:3-4,7)
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:6-10)
Scene 7 Barroom Brawl
After getting into a barroom brawl with some Navy sailors and getting tossed in jail, Rescue Swimmer candidate Jake Fischer meets with Randall, his instructor. Fearing expulsion from the program, the normally arrogant and self-absorbed Fischer is instead faced with confronting his true reason for being in the program. Underneath all the bravado, shame, guilt, and regret were exposed as primary motivators. The seemingly romantic cultural idea of being driven by your regrets is exposed for the lie that it is; guilt is not a fuel, it’s a weight. Fischer must understand that you simply cannot erase shame with virtue. Our own obedience to Christ must likewise be driven by a love of the Gospel, rather than some deterministic notion that we can redeem our past by good works. Only then can we be used in the work that God has laid before us: to be rescuers of souls.
Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17 Hide not your face from your servant;
for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
(Psalm 69: 1-3,16-19,29)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:1-2)
Scene 11: Never Let Go
In the climax of the film, the retired Randall finds himself pulled into one last mission: to rescue Fischer, his former student, trapped on a sinking fishing boat. When it becomes clear that the frayed rescue cable will not support both their weights, Senior Chief Randall makes the ultimate sacrifice so that Fischer may live. In this Christ-like act of sacrifice, Randall dies in Fischer’s place and, in so doing, provides the greatest example of what it means to be a servant. The question posed above now finally has an answer: How much is another life worth? Yours.
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 18-21)
They didn’t get everything right. I know, I know, we were ALL disappointed with what Katniss was wearing at the opening ceremonies in the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ New York Times Bestseller, The Hunger Games. The CGI fire just didn’t do it justice, and Jennifer Lawrence looked like she was wearing a leftover stillsuit fromDune. Still, since my wife Kat and I read the trilogy just a month before the film came out, I still stand by the fact that it’s one of the faithful adaptations of a book done,period. From the great casting (most notably Donald Sutherland and Woody Harrelson) to the deft line of bloody-yet-PG-13 violence, everything save for the costumes was superb.
I'm not exactly sure what was dampening my spirit. The trailers looked good, but the water theme was giving me bad flashbacks to the last Kevin Costner movie that dealt with the subject - Waterworld. Plus, despite the promise Ashton Kutcher showed in The Butterfly Effect, I'm still not completely sold on him. Something about the guy just annoys me. Probably has to do with his simian features.
It took approximately two minutes for my fears to subside and for my hesitancies to slip away. The movie immediately throws us into the midst of a tense rescue mission, and I was gripped tighter than Kenny Rogers' orange face lift. My concerns briefly bristled at Kutcher's initial appearance due to the fact that too much effort was made to paint him as ridiculously cool and rebellious. Sunglasses, a tough guy toothpick in his mouth, and sportin' a smirk that'd make George Clooney proud? Yeah, we get it. I was totally ready to hate him.
But then he had to go and deliver a fairly strong performance and force me to soften my jabs.
Darn you, ape man! Efficiently mixing tense, exciting rescue scenes, drama, humor, and solid acting, The Guardian is easily a film that I dare say the majority of audiences will enjoy. You can quibble about its clichés, predictability, and rare moments of overcooked sappiness, but none of that takes away from the entertainment value.
I had a bad feeling that the pace would slow too much when Costner started training the young guys, but on the contrary, the training sessions just might be the most interesting aspect of the film. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers are heroes whose stories have never really been portrayed on the big screen, so I feel the inside look at what they go through and how tough it is to make it is very informative and a great way to introduce audiences to this under-appreciated group.
Do you have what it takes to be a rescue swimmer? Just think about it -you get to go on dangerous missions in cold, dark, rough water, and then you must fight disorientation, exhaustion, hypothermia, and a lack of oxygen all while trying to help stranded, panicked people who are depending on you for their survival. And if all that isn't bad enough, sometimes you can't save everybody so you have to make the tough decision of who lives and who dies.
Man, who wants all that responsibility? Not me! I had no idea what it was really like for these guys, and who would have thought I'd have an Ashton Kutcher/Kevin Costner movie to thank for the education?
Not only does The Guardian do a great job of paying tribute to this rare breed of hero, but lucky for us it also does a good job of entertaining its paying customers.
THE GIST
Moviegoers wanting an inside look at what it's like to embark on a daring rescue mission in the middle of the ocean might want to give The Guardian a chance. I saw it for free, but had I paid I would've felt I had gotten my money's worth.