The Bodyguard

Whitney Houston's screen debut sees her as famous singer/actress Rachel Marron. Bodyguard Frank Farmer (Costner) turns up at her mansion, ready to protect her in the wake of a series of death threats, but he encounters resentments as the Oscar-nominated megastar insists on following a demanding schedule in the run-up to the awards. Is the killer her slimy press agent (Kemp), the loon who keeps a shrine to her in his locker, or dodgy bodyguard Greg (Arana) with the strange squint and roving hands? Farmer and Marron fall in love and escape to the lakeside home of his dad (Waite); but even there danger lurks. Jackson's showy technique does little to lighten the over-earnest heroics and ponderous references to samurai, which are punctuated by assorted numbers and costume changes for Houston. Lawrence Kasdan, it seems, mulled over the first draft of his screenplay twenty years ago; it should have been left to languish in development purgatory.