So That Others Might Live (Snyder)

Yo

So there’s this game called Lifeboat where you’re stuck in a lifeboat with four other people…perhaps a doctor, lawyer, crippled child and sanitation engineer. But the lifeboat can only hold four and you have to decide who gets kicked out. It’s supposed to reveal who we value in society but I think it's a farce. The only right answer to that game is emotionally delivered in The Guardian.

Kevin Costner has been on the comeback trail for some time now without much success. This may not be a “comeback” for him, but it's one of his best. He brings an engaging edge and gentility to his character, and for the first time in recent memory, doesn't seem bored with what he's doing. As for his co-star Ashton Kutcher, I have a hard time seeing him as anything different from his doofus character on That Seventies Show. Halfway through this movie, though, a scene reversed my opinion and I Ashton Kutcher became a talented actor who could bring a complex character to life.

The Guardian is driven by characters and dialogue, so the lead roles have to work, and they have to work well together. Costner and Kutcher solidly carry the film. We care for their characters, even empathize with them, which is a rare feat in today's flash-bang film industry. They make a simplistic and predictable story surprisingly emotional and engaging. Add in beautiful cinematography, unique film techniques by director Andrew Davis, solid special effects, a solid soundtrack and a great supporting cast, and you have one of the better films this year.

Earlier, I alluded to the only right answer for the Lifeboat game. It’s a central theme in The Guardian. The motto for the rescue swimmers of the United States Coast Guard is “So that others may live.” New recruits are trained to give their life for another. That is their mission. So who do you choose to get out of the Lifeboat? Yourself. You get out of so others may live. That's not an easy choice to make, nor does it come naturally to the new recruits in The Guardian.
Our natural tendency is to cling to own life; not to give it up to save another. And yet, the brave men and women of the United States Coast Guard do that on a daily basis.
We’re probably all drowning in one way or another. Our boats may be taking on water. Some may have already sunk. We may be flailing in life’s waters, waiting desperately for rescue. There is a nail-scarred hand reaching for us. It may reach for us on the sunny decks of ships not yet capsized, or in the darkest moments of life’s worst storms, but it reaches, urging us to grasp hold so that we might be pulled from death to life.
That hand belongs to the one man who died that others might live, the only one who can save everyone. And he doesn't rescue for a moment, but for all eternity. Jesus is the epitome of self-sacrifice, of getting out of the lifeboat “So that others might live.”
It’s thrilling to see stories of self-sacrifice on the big screen. They are heroic and noble. But the truth is that we all live in such stories, and it’s up to us to decide what role we will play; will we choose to be rescued, will we refuse rescue out of pride, if rescued will we continue on to rescue others? 

Despite a few flaws, The Guardian is a rousing movie. It blends humor, drama and tragedy in just the right proportions and features wonderfully portrayed characters. It may also challenge you to ask yourself  how much a life is worth and whether you’d be willing to step out of the lifeboat.