My Bodyguard (1980)

When a boy comes to a new school and gets harassed by a bully, he acquires the services of the school's most feared kid as a bodyguard.

Director:

Tony Bill

Writer:

Alan Ormsby

Stars:

Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Makepeace	...	Clifford
Adam Baldwin	...	Linderman
Matt Dillon	...	Moody
Paul Quandt	...	Carson
Hank Salas	...	Mike
Joan Cusack	...	Shelley
Dean R. Miller	...	Hightower
Tim Reyna	...	Koontz
Richard Bradley	...	Dubrow
Denise Baske	...	Leilani
Vicky Nelson	...	Freddy
Tom Rielly	...	Reissman
Paul Charbonneau	...	Allen
Laura Salenger	...	Girl
Bert Hoddinott	...	Burt

Storyline

Clifford Peache is the new kid in Lake View High School. Faced with all the stress that role entails he makes his situation worse by insulting Moody, the leader of a group of toughs who extort lunch money from kids. These punks pretend to be bodyguards for the kids to protect them from Linderman who, it is rumored, killed his brother in cold blood. Clifford befriends the sullen Linderman and hires him as his bodyguard. When Moody ups the ante, Linderman must decide whether fighting for what he believes in, with his haunted past and image, is justified.

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Plot Keywords:

bicycle | bodyguard | high school | bully | bullying | 

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Taglines:

Terrorized in the toilets? Chased after school? Shaken down for your lunch money? GET A BODYGUARD!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bodyguard

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$178,641, 13 July 1980, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$22,482,952

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Market Street Productions, Melvin Simon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Don Devlin is the father of film maker Dean Devlin. Dean makes his acting debut here.

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Goofs

Ketchup/Mustard stains are inconsistent from the restaurant to the junkyard. (Dubrow's sunglasses and hair).

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Quotes

Carson: Hey Moody! You owe me a years worth of lunch money
[flips Moody the bird and runs behind Linderman]

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Connections

Referenced in Family Matters: My Bodyguard (1995)

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Soundtracks

She's a Latin from Manhattan
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Al Dubin
Sung by Ruth Gordon in the hotel kitchen

User Reviews

Still Holds Up

Maybe it's just because I saw it in the theater when I was ten when it first came out, but it was one of those movies that affected me in a big way. Those of you actually BORN in 1980 can look at it as some relic, but I say it will stand the test of time like Fast Times at Ridgmont High and Over the Edge. This is a movie from a time when kids attempted to brush their hair, wore terry-cloth OP's and listened to Led Zeppelin. Video games pretty much meant Asteroids and Pong. Oh, the dark ages!!! What would all these new fresh-faced movie-goers do without their Nintendo Play-station Cubes and Matrix kung-fu digital effects? Back then we had Star Wars, and believe me, it was practically enough. I say practically because we begged for and demanded sequels and thats how all this crap got started in the first place. But back to my main point--- this movie rules and were all better off for it. It launched alot of careers (though unfortunately not Mr. Makepeace's) and was crucial to the generation it was tailored for as far as teaching us about life after elementary school. By the way, the fight scene may not be Crouching Tiger, but it's how it really works when you ACTUALLY have to fight. Oh, and bullies DID hang out in bathrooms all day, and a can of soda cost 25 cents. And for the record you will see the last recorded moment when someone flipped someone off by extending ONLY the middle finger. All that and Ruth Gordon, no less. Yeah!!!