The Sentinel (2006)

Powerful

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The opening scene of "The Sentinel", which shows the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, gives this movie a feeling of gravitas and importance. Sadly, the direction and overall general production value of the experience fails to live up to that opening scene and instead produces little more than stock fare for this genre.For a basic plot summary, "The Sentinel" focuses on the Secret Service for the U.S. President (David Rasche). When the head of the President's protection detail (Michael Douglas) is accused is being a mole, lead investigator Dave Breckenridge (Kiefer Sutherland) and his rookie partner (Eva Longoria) are called in to investigate.The simple reason this film was made was as a vehicle for the rising stars of Sutherland (who pretty much plays Jack Bauer of 24 in this film) and Longeria (sex symbol from Desperate Housewives trying to branch into more serious fare). Douglas is thrown in for his personal background in political flicks.Thus, while there is most definitely enough ensemble acting talent to carry the movie, the story doesn't come anywhere near to supporting them. The plot of "The Sentinel" is one that has been recycled time after time and adds nothing new into the mix. The build-up is decent, but the execution leaves one wondering "is that it...really?".One bright spot, as usual, is the acting performance from Kiefer. This genre suits him perfectly, and he could have been utilized even further (perhaps an interrogation scene?!). Unfortunately, Douglas is only decent and Longoria isn't given much to do. Perhaps, however, there just wasn't enough "meat" in the script to do anything with.Overall, then, "The Sentinel" is a stock political thriller and absolutely nothing more. If you haven't seen many of these movies, this one will appeal to you. If you are a veteran of the genre, though, please move along.

THE SENTINEL is one of those cookie-cutter thrillers that's already been made before. In this film's case, it's a virtual reprise of IN THE LINE OF DUTY, with Michael Douglas taking on the Eastwood role of the dedicated presidential bodyguard battling wits with an assassin.The film could almost write itself, and sadly it turns out to be an absolutely generic Hollywood outing. Douglas is as strong as ever in a 'wronged man' type role, but everything that happens - every sub-plot, every little twist and turn - is so familiar, so predictable, so well choreographed in advance - that the ensuing film is difficult to like.THE SENTINEL throws plenty of stuff into the mix in hopes to make it stick. The most blatant is an extraneous Eva Longoria, added in an attempt to sex things up. Next up is Kiefer Sutherland, straight off the set of 24 and playing a similarly dedicated character.There are a handful of decent action sequences but Clark Johnson (also responsible for the similarly generic S.W.A.T.) is a letdown as director and there just isn't enough in the way of verve or style to make this in the least bit memorable. At least VANTAGE POINT had more going for it with the attempts at multiple points of view...

Put Michael Douglas in a film and it's only a matter of time before his character's sexual urges lead to mayhem. Here he plays a Secret Service bodyguard tasked with protecting the President. Problem is, Douglas is also having an illicit affair with the First Lady. Cue much confusion.The film adheres to the "running man" formula ("The Fugitive", "Chain Reaction", "The Incredible Hulk", "Minority Report", "The Bourne Identity", "Enemy of the State" etc), which Hitchcock refined in such films as "Saboteur", "Foreign Correspondent", "The 39 Steps" and "North By Northwest". In each case the film's hero is on the run, falsely accused of a crime which he must solve whilst being pursued. The entire "running man" plot is itself a MacGuffin, our hero jumping from set piece to set piece as he attempts to piece together his puzzle.The good thing about this formula is that you don't need expensive set pieces. The plot itself generates tension; the actors need only ride the wave and look confused. In this regard Douglas does well. One minute he's on top the President's wife, the other minute the whole world wants him dead. Poor guy.7.5/10 – Fast paced and pleasantly old school. Watch "The Bodyguard" and "In The Line Of Fire", the latter which features a scenery chewing Clint Eastwood, to see this kind of thing done marginally better.

OK Let's see. I watched a movie last night........what was it again??? Oh that's right...The Sentinel. That sentence pretty much sums it all up, unfortunately. In spite of how much I really wanted to like this movie I just could not bring myself to do so.I mean it has Jack Bauer...er... sorry I mean Kiefer Sutherland, Michael Douglas, the lovely Eva Longoria and a host of other recognizable faces including Kim Basinger(as the 1st lady no less) and Martin Donovan. However regardless of all of this it turned out to be an utterly uninspired, predictable and forgettable collection of rehashed moments that seem all too familiar somehow. The blame can in my estimation not be laid at the feet of the principal actors here. Rather an uninspired script and less than adequate direction seems to be the main cause of this failing.Eva Longoria's character gets a good introduction and is then barely heard from again for the remainder of the film. The bad guys' motives are not explored or explained at all other than some poorly contrived nonsense about the former KGB. The character of Douglas' informant seems to have no plausible reason to posses the knowledge he has. There are several missed opportunities and redundancies in the story, and the list just goes on, in short the script was poorly written, predictable and not thought through as well as it really should have been. The mess of sub-plots just become convoluted and a distraction after a while.One could easily be forgiven for comparing "The Sentinel" to "In the line of Fire" which was by far a superior film despite having perhaps a simpler storyline. In short you know what "In The Line Of Fire" was about. It seems that the writer could not decide what "The Sentinel" should really be. Oh Well, next time maybe.....A good idea gone horribly wrong. If you are in the mood for this kind of film rather get hold of a copy of "In The Line Of Fire" with Clint Eastwood or even Kevin Costner in "No Way Out" instead.