1980: "My Bodyguard"

                                      My Bodyguard is an 1980 teen drama about a young rich kid named Clifford (played by Chris Makepeace) who is tormented by a pack of bullies (the lead bully played by Matt Dillon) so he requests the service of a mysterious outcast named Ricky Linderman (played by Adam Baldwin) to be his bodyguard (Dillon and his crew are intimidated by Linderman because there are rumors that he killed a kid, raped a teacher, etc.) and they slowly become friends in the process.

                             I remember the first time I saw this movie, I was in middle school and they showed it during English class. I don't remember the reason for watching it. I guess because it's a movie about bullying and bullying is always a sensitive subject in school.
                              My Bodyguard is a charming light movie, though it suffers from being too light. It has about the same emotional complexity as an ABC after-school special, but it has a genial sincerity that makes it forgivable. And the bullies end up getting their comeuppance, and who doesn't love that?
                              What always bothered me about My Bodyguard is Clifford. He's likable and seems to have a good head on his shoulders....but he's not that interesting. He's almost too perfect and we don't get a real sense of growing pains. The scenes with Clifford at the hotel feel way too precious (Clifford's grandmother, played by Ruth Gordon, is a manic-pixie granny) and tonally clash with the grittier scenes at the high school (though Matt Dillon is a little too soft-spokenly dreamy for the part of the bully). It also feels more like Linderman's story than Clifford's (and Linderman is the more dynamic character of the two, with a much clearer arc). The movie felt more like an episode of someone's life than a complete story. Like if they made some Dickensian, John Irving-esque bildungsroman about Clifford's life, his friendship with Linderman would be a tiny facet of the story.
                              One thing that always stuck with me was that theme song. I've only seen the movie once before and yet, when I heard the music, it was like a shock of recognition, like, "Yes! I remember this." It's a beautiful theme song with lilting violins and gentle woodwinds (composed by Dave Grusin) and matches the movie's light touch. It's rare these days to have a minor movie have a film score with such a distinctive motif (even blockbusters today don't have memorable scores like this).

                             My Bodyguard is not a great movie, but it's cuddly and has its heart in the right place.