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Guarding Tess
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Guarding Tess (1994) More at IMDbPro »

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Guarding Tess (1994) -- A former First Lady of the US wants a particular Secret Service agent to head her bodyguard detail, even though he can't stand her.

Overview

User Rating:
6.0/10   6,119 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 1% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Hugh Wilson
Writers (WGA):
Hugh Wilson (written by) &
Peter Torokvei (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Guarding Tess on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 March 1994 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy more
Tagline:
A comedy beyond the call of duty.
Plot:
A former First Lady of the US wants a particular Secret Service agent to head her bodyguard detail, even though he can't stand her. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Golden Globe. more
NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
Legendary Producer Tanen Dies
 (From WENN. 5 January 2009, 11:12 PM, PST)

Edward Albert Dead at 55
 (From Studio Briefing - Film News. 28 September 2006)

User Comments:
The scene in the bar... more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Nicolas Cage ... Doug Chesnic

Shirley MacLaine ... Tess Carlisle

Austin Pendleton ... Earl Fowler

Edward Albert ... Barry Carlisle
James Rebhorn ... Howard Schaeffer
Richard Griffiths ... Frederick
John Roselius ... Tom Bahlor

David Graf ... Lee Danielson
Don Yesso ... Ralph Buoncristiani
James Lally ... Joe Spector
Brant von Hoffman ... Bob Hutcherson

Harry Lennix ... Kenny Young
Susan Blommaert ... Kimberly Cannon

Dale Dye ... Charles Ivy

James Handy ... Neal Carlo
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Additional Details

Runtime:
96 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby | SDDS
Company:
Channel Films more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The voice of the president was provided by writer and director, Hugh Wilson. more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Frederick sarcastically expresses surprise to Doug that he isn't standing outside The Russian Tea Room as part of Jacqueline Kennedy's Secret Service detail. Kennedy forfeited her Secret Service privileges when she remarried. more
Quotes:
Store Manager: [to Doug] Does she want to be known today?
[Doug shakes his head]
Store Manager: [to customers and cashiers] Don't know her! Don't know her! Don't know her!
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Kicking and Screaming (1995) more
Soundtrack:
Overture more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful:-
The scene in the bar..., 23 November 2002
Author: Tarasicodissa from Pennsylvania

Like the earlier poster, the key in it is the scene in the bar. Prior to it Tess's son came to see her on Christmas Day, only because his probably shady business partners wanted to use her name on their project (which is doubtless the only reason they brought him on board). She smells a rat and refuses. She is forcibly confronted with the fact that she cannot trust her own son and aside from his occasional need to use her for his own financial advantage, they have no relationship (I guess it is hard to avoid feeling like an underachiever if you are the son of a president. Especially when you go through life trading on your last name the way I suspect Tess's son has. I loved the disappointment welling up in Tess's face as her son continued his obviously planned pitch. He had only come because he wanted something. She knew some scam, some manipulation was coming.).

In the bar with Chesnic, Tess acknowledges that she hasn't been much of a mother and because of this she is all alone. She asks Doug about himself, gently bringing up a very brief marriage on his file.

He simply, sadly says, "Everybody but me could see what she was really like."

You conjure up a vista of someone who is a guardian, a protector, trying to be a knight in shining armor to someone who had no wish to be saved. These characters have such depth that in one line you see a whole other very plausible side to his character; a disastrous love life driven by his need to find basket cases to 'save'. Both Tess and Doug have failed, made mistakes at the fundamental relationships of their lives and their loneliness pulls them together.

It is pleasant to see Nicholas Cage understated.

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opening song bonbon22188
Who were the 2 kids?? abros123
Available in Widescreen? jtashmore
He shot his toe (lol) forgotten_mango
Son involved in kidnapping PeterB2422
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