film only earned $15-million in profit. Kevin Costner and Aston Kutcher star in this action-adventure

drama film that focuses on the life and training of the United State Coast Guard's elite rescue

swimming team. Neal McDonough, Melissa Sagemiller, and Clancy Brown round out the supporting

cast with commendable contributions, but the real focus on this picture is Costner and

Kutcher. Costner is an extremely proficient rescue diver, capable of saving everything

but his failing marriage. Whereas Kutchner is the hot-shot trainee more focused on breaking

swimming records than saving lives. Both men are brilliant in their respective teacher

/ student roles, bouncing off each other with charged performances, especially in one emotional

scene where Costner opens up about his troubled past, advising his protégé, " Save the ones

you can. The rest, you've got to let go." Bookended by positively thrilling rescue-sequences

on the turbulent seas in the Gulf of Alaska, the majority of the picture is your typical

"boot camp" story... as we watch a group of promising cadets go through every test of

endurance and skill to prove their readiness, as only 280 make the cut from a pool of 39,000.

The 139-minute feature doesn't break any new ground during this middle-portion, but it's

competently executed with effective use of Trevor Rabin's hory-heavy score and some brisk

editing. With one lone exception however, the requisite training montage was stylistically,

but curiously, filmed on low-definition video. An impressive chunk of the water scenes were

filmed in a giant indoor pool built specially for this production... but its incorporation

is so flawless, you never notice. The pacing of this picture never feels slow, but it does

seem to contain a bit too much story for its own good, the middle training academy portion

honestly could have been its own standalone movie. What "Top Gun" is to fighter pilots,

this fun and re-watchable experience is to the US Coast Guard. The PG-13 rated adventure

is capped off with a beautifully resounding epilogue that definitely stayed with me. Although

fairly predictable and formulaic, this is a wonderful film that will make you laugh,

cry, and of course, appreciate the real men and women who serve around the world. The

Guardian", "Long-winded, but occasionally inspiring."

Here's my final score... a SEVEN. Although fairly contrived and familiar, this picture

definitely works, least of all because of its talented lead actors - I thought it was

COOL.