THE GUARDIAN ***

This is another film (it's becoming more common) that would have been better if they hadn't added so much. As it is the pic is over two hours and it would have been much better, and easily possible, if it were 90 minutes.

The plot is the familiar: young buck meets older/wiser teacher and the two learn from each other, then work together to achieve the difficult. So far, so good. In fact the action scenes are very good and are the saving grace of the film. But in an effort (I suppose) to attract the ladies the director has added a couple of love subplots and a bonding sequence that seemed prefectly superfluous. There is also a second ending that seemed unneeded to me but some may find moving. Costner does a good job with his role but the real surprise is Kutcher, whose portrayal of the young cadet is very good and far better than what I've seen him do before.

With some trimming this could have been a ***½ action film but even with the unnecessary footage it will be enjoyed by most.