My Bodyguard (1980)

Clifford Peache, a nice teenager, has difficulty in becoming integrated into his new high school, where a bully terrorizes the pupils and extorting money from them.But Clifford refuses to be passive and succeeds in acquiring the services of the pupil the most dreaded by the high school.Both boys are going to learn to know each other and, soon, their union against the moths of the high school will give birth to a beautiful friendly story.Chris Makepeace as Clifford Adam Baldwin as Linderman Matt Dillon as Moody Ruth Gordon as Gramma Martin Mull as Mr. Peache John Houseman as Dobbs Paul Quandt as Carson Craig Richard Nelson as Griffith

My Bodyguard is a fantastic small movie and one that seems to have been forgotten over time. It's a typical growing-of-age film, but it has an interesting premise as well as a great cast which breathes life into their characters. I really enjoyed the story and it brought something new to a genre that is worn-out, at least in today's standard.Tony Bill's film is about a boy named Clifford who is the new boy at school. He immediately makes an enemy in the name of Moody when he refuses to pay his lunch money. In order to survive high school, Clifford hires the services of the most-feared kid in the school to act as his bodyguard.I thought the acting was excellent. It's a shame Chris Makepeace did not have a big career, because he showed talent here. Matt Dillon was typically angry and menacing as the school bully. Speaking of menacing, Adam Baldwin was certainly menacing as Clifford's bodyguard. I also thought Ruth Gordon as Clifford's grandmother was quite funny.Overall, My Bodyguard is a forgotten little gem, but it is a great movie and one of those from the 80's that shall not be missed. It's a movie about growing up and facing your fears by overcoming obstacles. The movie may have a predictable ending, but I loved the premise. The film is funny and warm. I rate this movie 9/10.

When we saw "My Bodyguard", we were at school, in year 9 (senior in Junior High School), we were studying the problem of bullying. Our first impressions : the film looked very old (the kids have no mobiles, Clifford has a strange haircut, their clothes are typical eighties !)The actors are very talented : we preferred Clifford and Linderman. Moody looks very much like a school bully. The teachers are not realistic because our teachers would never be so lax.Overall, the film works because we identify with Clifford. We give the film a 9 out of 10.nochairocking57

This is a unexpectedly deep "Highschool Bullying" movie that is based around the words I wrote in the "Summary".This movie appears to have inspired the less deep and more over the top "Three O Clock High".Clifford (Chris Makepeace) moves to a new school and becomes the object of a group of bullies led by Moody (Matt Dillon). Clifford is afraid to fight them so he enlists the help of a mysterious kid "Linderman" (Adam Baldwin) that all the bullies fear.However, Cliff finds Linderman is not Superman, rather he has a grave psychological problem which contributes to his mysteriousness. This problem causes Linderman to question things about himself, and leaves the ending in doubt. We (the audience) begin to question whether Linderman can really fight or not. The movie has a good story and has well rounded characters, that find out we all need a helping hand sometimes. It is worth watching.