Lifeguard (film)

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Lifeguard

Directed by	Daniel Petrie
Produced by	Ron Silverman
Written by	Ron Koslow
Starring	Sam Elliott Anne Archer Stephen Young Parker Stevenson Kathleen Quinlan
Music by	Dale Menten
Cinematography	Ralph Woolsey
Editing by	Art J. Nelson
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	July 23, 1976
Running time	96 mins
Country	United States
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Lifeguard is a 96-minute movie released by Paramount Pictures in 1976. It was directed by Daniel Petrie, based upon a screenplay by Ron Koslow. It stars Sam Elliott, Anne Archer, Stephen Burns, Parker Stevenson, and Kathleen Quinlan.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Sam Elliott plays Rick Carlson, a 32-year-old lifeguard on a Southern California beach who's prompted to question his goals in life when he receives an invitation to his 15-year high school reunion. At this reunion, he meets his high-school sweetheart, Cathy (played by Anne Archer), now the divorced mother of a young son. They resume their past relationship and Cathy encourages Rick to take a job as a Porsche salesman, offered to him by another high-school classmate. Meanwhile, Rick must deal with Wendy (played by Kathleen Quinlan),a lonely teenage girl who has developed a crush on him.

Spoilers end here.

Lifeguard deals with the issues of conformity and materialism; Rick's eventual decision to stay on the beach, even at the cost of his relationship with Cathy, has echoes of the "do your own thing" mantra of the 1960s.

The Time Out film guide suggests that Lifeguard has a homosexual context, apparently based on the notion that Rick's relations with women prove to be more troubled and fleeting than his relations with men.