LIFEGUARD

Rick Carlson, a 32-year-old career lifeguard in Southern California, enjoys a commitment-free life of casual relationships. For the summer, he trains Chris Randolph, a college student and temporary weekend assistant. Despite being content with his profession, Rick is needled by his father to get a "real job" that pays more. One day, Rick receives an invitation to his 15-year high school reunion in the mail.

While on duty, Rick is approached by Wendy, a 17-year-old girl who has moved to the area from San Diego with her family. Wendy develops an infatuation with Rick. Though wary of returning her affections as she is underage, Rick remains friendly with her. He encounters Larry, an old high school friend who is now a partner in a Porsche dealership. Larry brings up the school reunion and says that Rick's old high school flame, the newly divorced Cathy, is expected to attend. Larry also offers Rick a sales position at the dealership, suggesting that he can double his salary. Hoping to see Cathy, Rick decides to go to the reunion.

Meanwhile, Wendy continues to pursue Rick. At her insistence, Rick eventually gives in to Wendy and has sex with her in the lifeguard tower. On the night of the reunion, Wendy surprises Rick at his apartment door before he leaves. He invites her in and she is surprised to discover that he is in his 30s. She then says that she understands his concern over their age difference.

At the reunion, former classmates discuss their careers. Rick seems embarrassed about still being a lifeguard and begins to lie about why he is so tanned, claiming that he works an outdoors job for the county. He reunites with Cathy and learns that she works at an art gallery and has a young son. Rick and Cathy rekindle their relationship. The next day, Rick and Chris compete in the annual lifeguard relay races, but Rick is outrun by younger competitors. Rick shows up to interview at the Porsche dealership. Rick impresses Mr. Gilmore, Larry's partner, with how seriously he takes his lifeguard job.

After a brief absence, Wendy returns to the beach and asks Rick when they will be intimate again. He says that they are doing something illegal and that it would be best if she found someone closer to her own age. Rick also admits that he is with someone else when Wendy prods him about another woman. He tries to comfort a distraught Wendy. Days later, he sees Wendy swimming away from the beach and goes to rescue her. She admits that she is trying to kill herself. He takes Wendy to shore and walks her to her car. He reassures her that, when school starts Monday, she will "begin to make new friends" before she drives off.

Shocked, Rick visits Cathy at the art gallery to tell her about the incident with Wendy. Cathy comforts him, then invites him to move in with her. While they are discussing the arrangement, a male client continually insists that Cathy wait on him. An annoyed Rick loudly tells the man off, jeopardizing Cathy's standing at the gallery. Rick apologizes to Cathy for losing his cool and says that he will think over the living situation.

With the summer season winding down, Larry returns to the beach one more time to offer Rick a job selling Porsches. Rick turns it down definitively, despite realizing that it will probably mean an end to his relationship with Cathy, who has been encouraging him to become more upwardly mobile. He tells Larry that he will remain a lifeguard "just as long as they'll have me". On his last day on the assistant job, Chris thanks Rick for everything he taught him.

Rick is later summoned to the beach changing room as a hysterical woman says that there is a man in there. Rick asks the man what he is doing in the ladies' room. The man claims to be a police officer working surveillance and says that he does not have his badge because he is working undercover.

Rick ultimately turns down both the Porsche dealership job and the offer to move in with Cathy, choosing to remain a lifeguard and embrace his own path.

The ending makes clear that Rick rejects the conventional markers of adult success—career changes, romantic settling—for a life that, while less traditionally 'respectable,' feels authentic to him. His decision to stay a lifeguard is both a refusal to conform and an acceptance of who he truly is, making peace with his choices despite the pressures from friends, family, and society.