My Bodyguard

My Bodyguard (1980)

  • 85% of critics liked it
    (27 reviews)

  • 66% of users liked it
    (5,777 ratings)

This quietly compelling film explores the hardships and anxieties of high school with intelligence, sensitivity, warmth and humor. Chris Makepeace stars as a shy, bookish student who has recently moved to Chicago and begun a new school. There he finds himself the target of a group of punks led by… More

PG, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By
Tony Bill
Written By
Alan Ormsby
Genres
Drama, Kids & Family, Comedy
In Theaters
Jul 11, 1980 Wide
On DVD
Jan 29, 2002

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    In his directorial debut, Tony Bill assembles a truly remarkable cast of youngsters with little or no previous acting experience.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    A film of ingredients, rather than ideas realized and integrated: it panders on different, disjunctive levels.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    This movie is fun to watch because it touches memories that are shared by most of us, and because its young characters are recognizable individuals, and not simplified cartoon figures like so many movie teen-agers.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    A sweet little movie about characters who really seem to be people, and that sort of verisimilitude is rarer than it ought to be nowadays.

  • Christopher Lloyd, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

    That's why I keep coming back to My Bodyguard: It continually reveals new layers of truth about what it's really like to be a teenager, whether an outcast, a bully or the bullied.

Read all 9 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • AJ V


    A great teen drama/comedy movie. The story is both quirky and realistic. I really liked this movie, it's fun.

  • James A


    After all these years I still liked it.

  • Lafe F


    We enjoyed this muchly as kids. It's a poignant movie like a super-version of an Afterschool special. I'm sure it would still go over well with kids today. I don't need to watch it again however.

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