As wary as I am of starting the review with these words, The Lifeguard should appeal most to viewers who enjoy the subtle blurring of fact and fiction so prevalent in outings such as This Is Spinal Tap and “The Office”. It’s done in the “fly on the wall” style and full of impressive, natural performances that buoy the slight material.
When the titular lifeguard (played by Mauricio Rodriguez) first appears onscreen it’s easy to make a number of assumptions. He looks like a laid back, cool dude who clearly just wants to enjoy the sunshine and chill out on the beach. Mere moments later, however, as the man prepares his tower and checks the conditions of the day, it becomes clear that he’s not as cool as he appears. As the slight movie unfolds (at just 64 minutes it’s never in danger of outstaying its welcome) it becomes more and more apparent that the lifeguard is a bit of an anally retentive jobsworth. And he doesn’t even seem to like the water that much.
There’s actually not a lot to really say about The Lifeguard. It’s an amusing character study with some great relationships shown but there’s nothing unmissable here, by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it would be just as appropriate/easy to rate this as an extended pilot show to a TV series that may or may not happen. It certainly has that quality to it.
Director Maite Alberdi also helped write the thing with Sebastian Brahm and Alejandro Fernandez and all involved make it clear that the humour is mixed with something slightly darker. The lifeguard has a number of issues, many of them buried as deep as he can get them but they are there nonetheless. What the movie does so well is make the central character, and also the few supporting characters (Jean Pierre Palacios plays another lifeguard who causes no small amount of envy, for example), amusing but also completely realistic. Admittedly, none of the laughs are big but when they occur they never feel forced or bolted on.
The material develops organically from the big differences shown between the physical appearance of the lifeguard and his attitude to a number of things around him. He is very likeable and yet also, in a certain light, equally easy to dislike. It’s just a shame that Alberdi didn’t push himself further to make a feature that felt like a full feature. As it stands, this is an enjoyable excerpt from a life story that we will probably have to accept never learning any more about.
DIRECTOR: MAITE ALBERDI
WRITER: MAITE ALBERDI, SEBASTIAN BRAHM, ALEJANDRO FERNANDEZ
STARS: MAURICIO RODRIGUEZ, JEAN PIERRE PALACIOS, TERESA GUERRECHEA, ALAN MUNOZ, LUCAS ACUNA
RUNTIME: 64 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: CHILE
Film Rating: 
