Product Description

A secret service man guarding the cantankerous widow of a former president has a rocky relationship with her.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 30-OCT-2001
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12405 in DVD
• Brand: MACLAINE,SHIRLEY
• Released on: 1998-04-15
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.com
Nicolas Cage stars in this drama-comedy about a Secret Service agent unable to get out of his assignment watching over an exasperating former first lady (Shirley MacLaine). The two get along like oil and water, but when MacLaine's bored widow ends up kidnapped, Cage's agent becomes a determined avenger. While the pairing of these two actors in a movie isn't something most audiences would ever have considered, that's what makes it so much fun. Cage and MacLaine are brilliantly focused in their respective parts, and filmmaker Hugh Wilson brings an unusually solid and urgent feeling to a story that might have become a dismissible light comedy in another director's hands. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
Nicolas Cage plays Doug Chesnic, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect a widowed former First Lady named Tess Carlisle (Shirley MacLaine). Hugh Wilson's movie is clearly meant to be one of those heartwarming comedies about mismatched people who, after driving each other crazy for ninety minutes, discover love and mutual respect just in time for the final fadeout. It's a dull, poky picture, which provides an unwelcome showcase for MacLaine's increasingly insufferable cute-gorgon shtick and no showcase at all for Cage's tremendous comic talents. Playing an upright, conscientious character straitjackets him, and it's not much fun to watch dutiful Doug being humiliated by willful Tess in scene after scene. Far from warming the heart, this grisly spectacle makes the blood run cold. Also with Austin Pendleton, James Rebhorn, and Richard Griffiths. Screenplay by Wilson and Peter Torokvei. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

A pleasant surprise
I really can't even remember what it was that I expected when I first saw ads for Guarding Tess. I definitely remember that it wasn't much. This film has so much heart and character that its impossible to resist.

Shirley McLaine (Tess Carlisle) is the former first lady of a now deceased president. Nicholas Cage (Doug Chesnik) is the head secret service agent assigned to 'guard' the former first lady. Tess is a rather crochety seemingly self absorbed old girl and agent Chesnik is a by the book G-man.

While Tess does her level best to break all the rules and drive Doug crazy, Doug yearns to be on a 'real' assignment. He hates the non structured nature of guarding someone like Tess.

What each of them realizes along the way is how much they care for one another and how much they bring to the others life.

And along the way we are introduced to an ecclectic group of characters who will endear themselves to your heart and have you chuckling at many of their antics.

You'll laugh, cry and feel for all the characters in this gem of a film.

So why only 4 stars then. Because despite its genuine warmth and humor I found the story to be a bit contrived and somewhat unbelievable.

All that notwithstanding it shouldn't be missed.

Unexpected gem...
When "Guarding Tess" was released eight years ago, I ended up watching it in the theater because I was bored and because it looked a little more promising than the rest of the pack. That thought proved to be an understatement. To date, I have seen this movie at least eight times, and I tend to enjoy it more with each viewing. Nicholas Cage is perfect as the disgruntled Secret Service agent who feels he has been banished to his current duty -- namely, doting on a cantankerous former First Lady, played to the hilt by Shirley MacLaine. "Guarding Tess" is alternately funny and moving, and even includes a bit of a mystery for Cage to solve. Far more than a one-dimensional film, "Guarding Tess" is satisfying for so many reasons -- the witty script, the fine performances, the deft direction, and the mostly even pacing, to name a few. While you can catch this on a regular basis on TBS (which has made the movie one of its most reliable staples), "Guarding Tess" is definitely worth owning for more frequent viewing.

Waited until TV
This is the first time that I thought a movie was not worth seeing and waited until it hit a premium movie channel. This time I will admit I made a mistake. This movie was fun to watch. It is well written and the interactions of the two main actors show a great chemistry.

Nicolas Cage plays the Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service detail guarding a former First Lady. The First Lady is played well my Shirley MacLaine. The agent feels he is wasted in such a detail and wants desperately to get back on detail to the White House...and the First Lady wants him to stay. The two seem to thrive on confrontation with each other. She does her best to break every procedure the Secret Service is supposed to follow.

If you pay attention in the movie you will see why the First Lady actually loves the agent so much and wants him with her. And I think the picture shows us a very accurate relationship that occurs between agent and his protectee. Though it could be seen as a comedy; there is a just enough drama and a mystery which Cage character solves. A very well directed with perfect pace and timing. I look forward to buying it and watching it again.