Synopsis
Doug is a Secret Service Agent who has just completed his stint in charge protecting Tess Carlisle—the widow of a former U.S. President, and a close personal friend of the current President. He finds that she has requested that he not be rotated but instead return to be her permanent detail. Doug is crushed, and—after returning—wants off her detail as she is very difficult to guard and makes her detail crazy with her whims and demands.
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Cast
- Nicolas CageDoug Chesnic
- Shirley MacLaineTess Carlisle
- Austin PendletonEarl Fowler
- Edward AlbertBarry Carlisle
- James RebhornHoward Schaeffer
- Richard GriffithsFrederick
- John RoseliusTom Bahlor
- David GrafLee Danielson
- Don YessoRalph Buoncristiani
- Brant von HoffmanBob Hutcherson
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
MacLaine and Cage are really very good here. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
There are no big thrills, only gentle laughs in this light story by Hugh Wilson and Peter Torokvei (Wilson also directed). - 70
Washington Post
What counts is the comic tension between MacLaine and Cage. It's so well done, it doesn't matter how dumb things get. - 70
Los Angeles Times
While it's understandable that it was thought that Tess needed something more, that it couldn't go on merely being clever and fragile, this solution goes too far in the opposite direction. [11Mar1994 Pg. F9] - 67
Austin Chronicle
There are lots of laughs in this picture, and though at one point he teeters perilously on the brink of mush and gush, Wilson manages to regain his gently caustic comic footing. - 60
Washington Post
All of the supporting characters -- notably tubby Richard Griffiths as Tess's nurse and mousy Austin Pendleton as her chauffeur -- are thinly drawn, but neither MacLaine nor Cage leaves much room for anyone to overact. - 50
ReelViews
Despite a slow start, the movie eventually slips into a congenial flow. Unfortunately, Guarding Tess ends up derailing because of a ill-conceived ending that has something to do with a silly kidnapping subplot. - 40
The New York Times
Having introduced the two principals and had some fun with their antagonism, the film has nowhere to go.
