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My Bodyguard (1980)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 27
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 4

T. Bill debuts as an affectionate director, keenly aware of growing pains.

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 1

T. Bill debuts as an affectionate director, keenly aware of growing pains.

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Movie Info

This quietly compelling film explores the hardships and anxieties of high school with intelligence, sensitivity, warmth and humor. Chris Makepeace stars as a shy, bookish student who has recently moved to Chicago and begun a new school. There he finds himself the target of a group of punks led by Matt Dillon (ideally cast as the weasel-like bully), who threaten him each day to turn over his lunch money for protection...or else. When he stands up to them, he nearly loses his dental work before

PG, 1 hr. 36 min.

Drama, Kids & Family, Comedy

Directed By: Tony Bill

Written By: Alan Ormsby

In Theaters: Jul 11, 1980 Wide

On DVD: Jan 29, 2002

Cast

Chris Makepeace
Clifford
Adam Baldwin
Linderman
Matt Dillon
Moody
Ruth Gordon
Gramma
Martin Mull
Mr. Peache
John Houseman
Dobbs
Paul Quandt
Carson
Craig Richard Nelson
Griffith
Hank Salas
Mike
Joan Cusack
Shelley
Kathryn Grody
Miss Jump
Dean Miller
Hightower
Tim Reyna
Koontz
Richard Bradley
Dubrow
Denise Baske
Leilani
Jennifer Beals
Patrick Billingsley
Dick Cusack
Dean Devlin
Boy
Eddie Gomez
Bruce Jarchow
Roberto
Tim Kazurinsky
Workman
Marge Kotlisky
Mrs. Linderman
Vicky Nelson
Freddy
Tom Reilly
George Wendt
Engineer
Dorothy Scott
Librarian
Allison Caine

Critic Reviews for My Bodyguard

All Critics (27) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (4) | DVD (9)

In his directorial debut, Tony Bill assembles a truly remarkable cast of youngsters with little or no previous acting experience.

July 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

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Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

A film of ingredients, rather than ideas realized and integrated: it panders on different, disjunctive levels.

July 24, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

This movie is fun to watch because it touches memories that are shared by most of us, and because its young characters are recognizable individuals, and not simplified cartoon figures like so many movie teen-agers.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

A sweet little movie about characters who really seem to be people, and that sort of verisimilitude is rarer than it ought to be nowadays.

August 30, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times

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Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

That's why I keep coming back to My Bodyguard: It continually reveals new layers of truth about what it's really like to be a teenager, whether an outcast, a bully or the bullied.

February 14, 2011 Full Review Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

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Christopher Lloyd

Sarasota Herald-Tribune Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Coming of age story still relevant and engaging.

January 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

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Randy White

Common Sense Media

Makepeace is excellent as the slight protagonist, and Baldwin is perfect as the brooding, misunderstood mammoth.

October 3, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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