My Bodyguard

Clifford Peache is a teenager starting at a new high school in Chicago, where fitting in proves difficult. A bully named Melvin Moody and his friends intimidate other students and demand their lunch money. When Clifford refuses to pay, he hires Ricky Linderman, a large, withdrawn classmate whose presence alone is enough to make students and teachers keep their distance. What begins as a practical arrangement between the two develops into a real friendship, and each of them gains something from the alliance against those who push them around.

My Bodyguard was released in 1980 and runs 96 minutes. It is the first film directed by Tony Bill, whose later features include Five Corners, Crazy People, Untamed Heart, A Home of Our Own and Flyboys. Alan Ormsby wrote the screenplay, Don Devlin produced, and the cast of 47 credited players is led by Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon and Joan Cusack, with Ruth Gordon, Martin Mull and John Houseman also appearing.

The film belongs to the coming-of-age comedy-drama tradition and was made by 20th Century Fox, Melvin Simon Productions and Market Street Productions. It took in about 22 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from roughly 12,000 votes, on TMDB 6.4 out of 10 from 134 votes, and a critics' rating of 7 out of 10 from 34 reviews. The critical score sits slightly above the audience score on TMDB and close to the IMDb figure.