The Sentinel

Rating PG-13 Formats DVD Genre suspense Starring Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria, Martin Donovan, Ritchie Coster Directed by Clark Johnson Publisher 20th Century Fox External Links Official 20th Century Fox Website

Despite his handsomeness and his respectable position in the Hollywood community, there is one characteristic about Michael Douglas and his films that always seem to stand out: the guys has been in more sex scenes than most adult film stars. I don't know if it's a clause in his contract or its just pure coincidence. Also, many of these sexual encounters usually lead to Douglas's character putting himself in a heap of trouble (i.e. Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct). Since Fatal Attraction, Douglas has been a staple in this sub-genre.

Clark Johnson's The Sentinel somewhat follows the Douglas pattern but it pertains to a different context. Douglas plays Pete Garrison, a weathered Secret Service agent who heads the unit in charge of the Nation's first lady (Kim Basinger). It just so turns out that Garrison is having an affair with the President's number one woman. When a fellow agent turns up dead and an inside plot to kill the President is slowly unveiled, Garrison finds himself in...*sigh*...a heap of trouble (this is getting old Michael!). The dilemna forces every USSS member to a polygraph test. Not wanting to reveal his affair with the first lady, Garrison lies and eventually fails the test, making him the top suspect and the supposed mole. Garrison is now on the run and he's got his former friend and pupil Jack Bauer..er..I mean David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland) and his most recent student Jill Marin (Eva Longoria) on his tail!

While the plot device is basically taken from a cookie cutter, The Sentinel is delivered at a pace that will leave the viewer at full attention. Unfortunately, while the buildup is great, the payoff is rather lame. At the film's conclusion, I found myself a little disappointed, as the surprise twist was not as shocking as the movie was trying to make it seem. However, the ride along the way is pretty fun, filled with moments of suspense, action including an awesome shoot-out that takes place in a mall.

With an impressive cast like this, you would expect some great performances. While everyone is acceptable, there is nothing noteworthy here. Douglas pretty much phones it in, coming off a bit eccentric and over-the-top at times. Sutherland, while playing a character that is more or less a replicate of the 24 character that revived his career, is solid but does deliver a few moments of corniness. While Eva Longoria looks good and gives her acting chops a go, her character adds very little to the plot. The character could've been taken out of the script and very little would have to be changed. Kim Basinger looks great as always and gives a good supporting effort. Meanwhile, David Rasche's performance as the President of the United States is anything but convincing. Sorry but he will always be known as Sledge Hammer to me (a great show from the 80s to those who are unaware).

The special features found on this DVD not only focus on the movie itself but the technical aspects of the Secret Service and how they made the transition to film. This basically sums up the audio commentary track with director Clark Johnson. There are a handful of deleted scenes and a really bad alternate ending. In my opinion, most of these scenes contributed little to the film and their removal was a good choice. We also get two featurettes that follow the above-mentioned format and a few trailers. There isn't much here but its enough to make on feel a bit informed about the Secret Service and what they do.

Despite the great cast, The Sentinel falls into the middle tier of the quality film scale. It doesn't require much thinking on the viewer's part but it contains good pacing and enough action and suspense to provide for an entertaining film. Hopefully this is the last of Michael Douglas's "drop your pants and run" movies. They are an enjoyable lot but I feel its time to move on.