My Bodyguard (film)
| My Bodyguard | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster
| |
| Directed by | Tony Bill |
| Produced by |
Melvin Simon Don Devlin |
| Written by | Alan Ormsby |
| Starring |
Chris Makepeace Adam Baldwin Matt Dillon Martin Mull Ruth Gordon |
| Music by | Dave Grusin |
| Cinematography | Michael D. Margulies |
| Edited by | Stu Linder |
Production company |
Melvin Simon Productions
|
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time |
96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $22.5 million |
My Bodyguard is a 1980 American comedy-drama film directed by Tony Bill (his directorial debut), and written by Alan Ormsby. The film stars Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon, Martin Mull, and Ruth Gordon.
The film was the debut of both Baldwin and an uncredited Jennifer Beals, and was Joan Cusack's first major film.
Clifford Peache lives in an upscale Chicago luxury hotel with his father, the hotel manager, and his grandmother. Clifford spends his nights with his family relaxing on the rooftop patio and spying on the neighbors through a telescope. He is the new kid at Lake View High School, where he arrives in a limousine.
Clifford becomes a target of abuse from a bully, Melvin Moody, and his gang, Dubrow, Koontz, and Hightower. Moody's gang regularly extort money from other students, allegedly to protect them from a school outcast, Ricky Linderman. According to school legend, Ricky has killed several people, including his own little brother. A teacher tells Clifford that the only violence she's aware of from Ricky's past occurred when his younger brother died accidentally while playing with a gun.
Clifford works up the nerve to approach Ricky and asks him to be his bodyguard. Ricky refuses, but the boys become friends after Ricky saves Clifford from a beating by Moody and his gang. Ricky has emotional issues over the death of his nine-year-old brother a year earlier, and is slow to come out of his shell, but has been rebuilding a motorcycle that he cherishes. The friendship between the two boys is strengthened as Clifford successfully helps Ricky search junkyards for a hard-to-find cylinder for the motorcycle's engine.
As Clifford, Ricky, and a few friends from school, Carson, Shelley, and an unnamed girl, eat lunch in Lincoln Park, Moody and his gang approach. Moody has enlisted an older bodybuilder named Mike to be his bodyguard. Mike intimidates and physically abuses Ricky and vandalizes his motorcycle before Moody pushes it into the lagoon. Ricky runs away. He later comes to Clifford to ask for money, ostensibly to pay for pulling the motorcycle out of the lagoon. Feeling used, Clifford follows him and the two argue before Ricky reveals that he accidentally shot his brother while babysitting him. As a result, he is overwhelmed with guilt and remorse.
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