Nicolas Cage is very good in "Guarding Tess," tackling a change-of-pace role as Doug Chesnic, an uptight, by-the-book Secret Service agent who is driven to distraction by the former First Lady he is assigned to protect.
As his charge, Shirley MacLaine is every inch the dignified, vain, demanding and unreasonable Tess Carlisle of the title, who retired to her home in a sleepy Ohio town after her husband, the president, died in office.
As the film begins, Doug wraps up three years of service with Tess and flies to Washington, D.C., for a new assignment. There, his boss tells him that Tess has called the current president of the United States to ask that Doug stay with her.
Reluctantly, Doug stays. And the running gag of periodic phone calls from the president makes for a very funny touch.
This confrontation between Doug and Tess marks the first of many arguments, disagreements and shenanigans that will keep the two on edge, at each other's throats and ultimately bind their often tenuous relationship.
And in the hands of Cage and MacLaine, that relationship is a pleasure to watch, as Tess literally turns the agents into servants and Doug tries to stick to the duties outlined in his orders.
The first two-thirds of the film focus on this relationship in an episodic manner, which makes for a sort of "Driving Miss Daisy," with the race issue replaced by politics.
Tess, who has hardly been out of her house in the past three years, suddenly decides to go to the opera — mainly because she knows Doug doesn't like opera. She goes grocery shopping, which has the agents doing price checks. One day, she orders her long-time chauffeur (Austin Pendleton) to elude Doug and his team so she can have a few moments of privacy. And she even plays golf and goes on a picnic in the freezing winter weather, much to everyone's chagrin.
But about two-thirds into the film, as if this relationship story isn't enough to carry things through to a logical conclusion, there is a ridiculously manipulative kidnapping element introduced. And though the film wraps up nicely, this entire subplot strained my patience.
Director Hugh Wilson ("Police Academy," TV's "WKRP in Cincinnati"), who co-wrote the script with Peter Torokvei ("Back to School," "Caddyshack II"), is striving for something akin to last year's "Dave." And there is the nagging feeling that he might have succeeded if not for that unfortunate climactic bit of plotting.
Still, enough cannot be said about Cage and MacLaine's performances and their obvious chemistry together — and it's fair to say that they more than make up for the film's lapses.
"Guarding Tess" is rated PG-13 for violence, profanity and some vulgar dialogue.