Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

seeingbystarlight Special Agent In Charge Doug Chesnic (Nicholas Cage), is very fond of his assignment guarding former First Lady Tess Carlisle...as long as it's over.The movie starts with Doug literally floating out of Tess's Ohio home after a hasty farewell to her, and her staff, and smiling all the way back to Washington. Then, in his boss's office, the bomb drops that Tess Carlisle has contacted the President of the United States, asking him to please send Doug back...he's indispensable to her guarding detail.Devastated, Doug tries to get out of it, only to be reminded that the President himself is asking him to do this..."What if I say no?" "I'm going to give you a minute to think about that." his boss replies.And 24 hours later, Doug is back in Ohio, taking breakfast up to Mrs. Carlisle, after just having ripped off the rosebud from the stem in her flower vase, as a way of showing his rage at his reinstatement.Later, after Mrs. Carlisle feels the urge to play a game of golf on a snow covered winter afternoon, Doug decides it's time to lay down the law.He informs Mrs. Carlisle that from now on, the Secret Service intends to do their job by the book which means, no caddying, no running errands, and no making snacks.He's still bragging about straightening Tess out, as he sits in a pub with his colleagues, when the waitress walks up announcing a phone call for Doug which turns out to be none other than...the President who informs Doug in a not-so-pleasant tone that he is to submit to everything Mrs. Carlisle wants.Chastened, with no other choice but to do his job, Doug bites the bullet.But when the former First Lady is kidnapped, Doug and his subordinates go on a desperate quest to find her, resulting in an unlikely filial bond between Doug Chesnic, and Mrs. Carlisle.This movie is a real diamond. Nicholas Cage, and Shirley McLaine are terrific in it, as is all the supporting cast.Hugh Wilson does a great job -not just with this film- but also as the voice actor for the President of the United States.Originally, Review #142Posted On: November, 19, 2011

HotToastyRag Everyone pays attention to former presidents, but what about former first ladies? Guarding Tess shows audiences what happens when the spouses leave the White House.Shirley MacLaine is a widowed former first lady, guarded for the rest of her life by the Secret Service. She gives her usual wonderfully gruff performance with touches of sensitivity and heart when it matters. She's just lovely. Nicolas Cage gives an equally brilliant performance as her main agent, frustrated by his boring assignment and Shirley's grouchy disposition.The two play off each other beautifully, and the audience is given an unusual but touching love-hate friendship to watch. Guarding Tess is a really fantastic movie, with great acting and a memorable theme, and it's really knowledgeable, too! Pretty much all the information I have about the Secret Service I learned from this movie.

Robert J. Maxwell Well, if "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989) can be a critical and commercial success, how about "Guarding Tess" (1994)? Sequels, remakes, imitations, isomorphs, and semi-clones are rarely as good as the originals and that's the case here. "Driving Miss Daisy" was a character study of an angry, independent old Southern Jewish lady and a polite, resentful, and relentless driver and helpmeet. It was edgy throughout with no hugs, not even at the end.This ones begins as "Driving Tess." Cage is in charge of a Secret Service detail guarding the widow of a previous president. MacLaine is an elderly curmudgeon who orders him around like a butler. She insults him, heaps her calumny upon him. He burns with resentment, pillars of steam issuing from his ears, sometimes sabotaging her plans. It's kind of cute and often funny, watching the back and forth play of the ping pong game. The supporting cast give good aid.Rather early on we see MacLaine in a hospital for a check up and we see her X ray, which doesn't look too hot because even to the untutored and unaided eye the inoperable tumor glows like a tennis ball. Intimation of mortality and worse -- a descent from comedy into pathos. If you can't follow the path, the music will pound you until you get it right.Just after the half-way point, it appears that the writers threw up their hands, said, "What the hell -- we've run out of jokes," and turned it into a routine adventure flick in which the First Lady is kidnapped and the loving and determined Secret Service agent blasts his way to her rescue.That sudden switch in tone is kind of jarring. I mean, after all, from comedy to bathos to pathos? It will warm your heart if you don't ask too much of it.

mark.waltz Guarding the President of the United States is tough enough, but taking on a widowed former first lady can be shear hell on earth. Nicolas Cage gives one of his most vibrant performances as a special agent with the worst assignment possible: protecting Shirley MacLaine! Continuing her string of grumpy old women, it's gotten to the point to audiences don't know who the real MacLaine really is. Some eccentric student of the metaphysical or the grouchiest woman outside of Cinderella's step-mother. Certainty, ever since "Terms of Endearment", her characters have just gone from slightly cranky and cynical to downright mean. Sometimes, her characters just seem to get a huge thrill out of their nastiness.Tess Carlisle is one tough cookie who could give Nancy Reagan a run for her money. Through her influence, Nicolas Cage is not permitted to leave her, and the questions arise is to just why she won't let him leave. It's obvious that he simply can't stand her and she certainly doesn't treat him with respect. So on his second term with her is a change for them as everything comes out to evaluate the truth behind her obsession with him.Like the hysterical calls Ethel Merman took from Harry Truman in "Call Me Madam", this has the recurring gag of Cage getting calls from the unseen president complaining about calls he got from Tess. While we didn't hear Harry (only Merman), we do get to hear the President's voice, hysterically pretentious in the voice-over of Hugh Wilson. A huge cast of veteran character actors support Cage and MacLaine most expertly, especially Richard Griffith's as her cook and Austin Pendleton as her chauffeur. Edward Albety has a small role as MacLaine's son.It takes a while but eventually, Cage does begin to see MacLaine as more than just the nasty witch she comes off as. She is a woman scared of her situation and troubled by being put out to pasture outside of the political arena. MacLaine slowly comes around too, and a touching bond is formed. As they get to know each other, she becomes a lot more compassionate to the others on her staff and learning to have fun again. This isn't a film of great shakes but in character driven terms, it really works well. You have to just have some patience in dealing with MacLaine's over-the-top meanness. It is not clear that she is based upon any of the former first ladies who were still living at the time although Jacqueline and Nancy are mentioned. Perhaps one day we'll see "Guarding Hilary", but in the meantime, we'll have to settle for a fictional one.