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The Lifeguard

Play trailer Poster for The Lifeguard R 2013 1h 38m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
16% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 27% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A reporter (Kristen Bell) quits her job, returns to her old lifeguard duties, and has an affair with a teenager.
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The Lifeguard

Critics Reviews

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Sheila O'Malley RogerEbert.com 09/02/2013
2/4
"The Lifeguard" is hemmed in by vagueness and cliche, and nearly ruined by its soundtrack, an insistent barrage of thematically obvious alt-radio music cues. Go to Full Review
Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times 08/30/2013
3/5
Although writer-director Liz W. Garcia's wistful, angsty tale treads familiar ground, the filmmaker has crafted a credibly flawed and conflicted heroine who holds interest. Go to Full Review
Kyle Smith New York Post 08/30/2013
1/4
The central character simply comes across as whiny and entitled instead of troubled and dark, and the central theme of getting your groove back by acting like a kid again has been done many times by much more talented filmmakers. Go to Full Review
JD Duran InSession Film 08/15/2024
D+
The third act does get better and leaves some room for you to get on board with what’s happening. Once it comes full circle, there’s a little relief but not enough to repair the damage already done. Go to Full Review
Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com 08/22/2019
Though featuring a handful of winning performances from an extremely likeable cast, writer/director Liz W. Garcia's debut, The Lifeguard, is about as original and realistic as its metaphorical title is gauntly vague. Go to Full Review
Morgan Rojas Cinemacy 03/01/2019
The Lifeguard is not groundbreaking cinema or a heavy-handed story, but it succeeds in showcasing great performances from its actors. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Nick W 10/06/2024 Well written sympathetic charecter study, even if the lead is just a doofus making very poor lifechoices. Brilliant performence by Bell and also the supporting cast. See more Patrick M 03/22/2024 Always love Kristin Bell. This movie was pretty slow. A little bit disappointed. I would have liked a different ending. See more 07/23/2022 ) Isn't it a crime for a 30 year old to be with a 16 year old? This film romanticized the idea. Really not a good idea to plant this seed into anyone's head. Really, really not a good idea. Otherwise, I thought the acting was good. I was truly appalled, though, that they took it to the statutory r*pe level. Not cool. At. All. See more 03/25/2022 Does anyone know why Jay decided to cancel the postcard he wrote to Leigh in the end of the movie? See more 02/08/2022 Like its characters, the movie struggles to figure out who it is & what it wants, but makes a strong third act comeback. Thoughtful & well-photographed, it gets weighed down by an obnoxiously pretentious indie rock soundtrack. #nitrosMovieChallenge See more Mark H 04/11/2021 "The truth hurts...but only when it's supposed to." The truth is, the "I'm shocked" virtue-signaling that runs throughout the negative reviews here is clearly coming from a blinders-on American perspective. Pedophilia...? Get educated. Pull up a map of "Age of consent by country in Europe" and your head will snap. In most countries there, it's *14*. _Most_. Meaning, more than half. Not convincing you? Okay...then look at it this way: How many people do you know, self-included, that had sex in high school between 14-16 years old...? Then stop and ask yourself, honestly, "why is that?" Honest answer? Because "human nature." Full stop. Still not convinced? Okay...let's get even more real. What's the age of consent in Connecticut, where this film's make-believe location was? Answer: *16*. In other words, even in the film the "kid" was fully within his rights to respond to the life guard. The h.s. vice principal's reaction to the student-life guard relationship made *no* sense unless her friend the life guard had been a h.s. teacher...which she clearly was not. Aside from that last, very odd (untruthful) vector of the film, and speaking more to its acting, in the film Bell's performance is compellingly honest and real, and at 32-33 years old while shooting this she is also at her peak for physical attractiveness as well. I say that to ground the reader again in reality: this kind of thing happens, very naturally, and it's called real life...and Truth...and, yes, Beauty. And I love real life...and Truth, and Beauty...the 'good' and the 'bad.' And so should you. "The" relationship in the film clearly couldn't work out in the long run, was "wrong" to some people's thinking because of the age difference, and thus a "bad mistake" that people (some) took offense to. To those people, I have to ask, "Are you really rating this film, or what you did and didn't get out of life...including appreciation & thankfulness for the 'good' and the 'bad'?" See more Read all reviews
The Lifeguard

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Movie Info

Synopsis A reporter (Kristen Bell) quits her job, returns to her old lifeguard duties, and has an affair with a teenager.
Director
Liz W. Garcia
Producer
Milan Chakraborty, Liz W. Garcia, Joshua Harto, Ryan Alan Dearth
Screenwriter
Liz W. Garcia
Distributor
Focus World, Screen Media Ventures
Production Co
Attic Light Films, C Plus Pictures, La Pistola
Rating
R (Brief Graphic Nudity|A Disturbing Image|Strong Sexuality|Drug Use|Language|Some Involving Teens)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 30, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 23, 2016
Runtime
1h 38m
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