The Lifeguard | Rotten Tomatoes

The Lifeguard

R

Released Aug 30, 2013

1h 38m

Comedy

Drama

List

16%

Tomatometer

31 Reviews

27%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

A reporter (Kristen Bell) quits her job, returns to her old lifeguard duties, and has an affair with a teenager.

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Sheila O'Malley

RogerEbert.com

"The Lifeguard" is hemmed in by vagueness and cliche, and nearly ruined by its soundtrack, an insistent barrage of thematically obvious alt-radio music cues.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 2, 2013

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Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

Although writer-director Liz W. Garcia's wistful, angsty tale treads familiar ground, the filmmaker has crafted a credibly flawed and conflicted heroine who holds interest.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 30, 2013

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Kyle Smith

New York Post

The central character simply comes across as whiny and entitled instead of troubled and dark, and the central theme of getting your groove back by acting like a kid again has been done many times by much more talented filmmakers.

Rated: 1/4

Aug 30, 2013

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Though featuring a handful of winning performances from an extremely likeable cast, writer/director Liz W. Garcia's debut, The Lifeguard, is about as original and realistic as its metaphorical title is gauntly vague.

Aug 22, 2019

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Morgan Rojas

Cinemacy

The Lifeguard is not groundbreaking cinema or a heavy-handed story, but it succeeds in showcasing great performances from its actors.

Mar 1, 2019

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S. Jhoanna Robledo

Common Sense Media

Drama is short on story, long on illicit romance.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 3, 2013

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Patrick M

Always love Kristin Bell. This movie was pretty slow. A little bit disappointed. I would have liked a different ending.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/22/24

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Clive A

This movie is definitely imperfect. Flaws in some material, flaws in some music choices etc. BUT it is frankly a really good effort from the stars and director. Bell can play any role, but if the direction and story was a bit less "heavy handed" this would look more like Garden State. It tries to "tell you how to feel" instead of letting you feel at times, and the best friend's storyline seems almost like an afterthought. That being said. It's not a bad movie by any means. I (personally) am excited to see what Liz does next. She definitely has that indie, Zack Braff vibe and with a bit of fine tuning, I think she'll kill it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

) Isn't it a crime for a 30 year old to be with a 16 year old? This film romanticized the idea. Really not a good idea to plant this seed into anyone's head. Really, really not a good idea. Otherwise, I thought the acting was good. I was truly appalled, though, that they took it to the statutory r*pe level. Not cool. At. All.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

Does anyone know why Jay decided to cancel the postcard he wrote to Leigh in the end of the movie?

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

Like its characters, the movie struggles to figure out who it is & what it wants, but makes a strong third act comeback. Thoughtful & well-photographed, it gets weighed down by an obnoxiously pretentious indie rock soundtrack. #nitrosMovieChallenge

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/08/22

Full Review

Mark H

"The truth hurts...but only when it's supposed to." The truth is, the "I'm shocked" virtue-signaling that runs throughout the negative reviews here is clearly coming from a blinders-on American perspective. Pedophilia...? Get educated. Pull up a map of "Age of consent by country in Europe" and your head will snap. In most countries there, it's *14*. _Most_. Meaning, more than half. Not convincing you? Okay...then look at it this way: How many people do you know, self-included, that had sex in high school between 14-16 years old...? Then stop and ask yourself, honestly, "why is that?" Honest answer? Because "human nature." Full stop. Still not convinced? Okay...let's get even more real. What's the age of consent in Connecticut, where this film's make-believe location was? Answer: *16*. In other words, even in the film the "kid" was fully within his rights to respond to the life guard. The h.s. vice principal's reaction to the student-life guard relationship made *no* sense unless her friend the life guard had been a h.s. teacher...which she clearly was not. Aside from that last, very odd (untruthful) vector of the film, and speaking more to its acting, in the film Bell's performance is compellingly honest and real, and at 32-33 years old while shooting this she is also at her peak for physical attractiveness as well. I say that to ground the reader again in reality: this kind of thing happens, very naturally, and it's called real life...and Truth...and, yes, Beauty. And I love real life...and Truth, and Beauty...the 'good' and the 'bad.' And so should you. "The" relationship in the film clearly couldn't work out in the long run, was "wrong" to some people's thinking because of the age difference, and thus a "bad mistake" that people (some) took offense to. To those people, I have to ask, "Are you really rating this film, or what you did and didn't get out of life...including appreciation & thankfulness for the 'good' and the 'bad'?"

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/11/21

Full Review

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Liz W. Garcia

Director

Kristen Bell

Leigh

David Lambert

Little Jason

Alex Shaffer

Matt

Mamie Gummer

Mel

Martin Starr

Todd

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Synopsis

A reporter (Kristen Bell) quits her job, returns to her old lifeguard duties, and has an affair with a teenager.

Director: Liz W. Garcia
Producer: Milan Chakraborty, Liz W. Garcia, Joshua Harto, Ryan Alan Dearth
Screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia
Distributor: Focus World, Screen Media Ventures
Production Co: C Plus Pictures, Attic Light Films, La Pistola
Rating: R (Brief Graphic Nudity|A Disturbing Image|Strong Sexuality|Drug Use|Language|Some Involving Teens)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 30, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2016
Runtime: 1h 38m