The Sentinel Review

Michael Douglas heads up this Secret Service thriller about a mole in the White House and a planned attempt on the President's life. The double Oscar-winner stars as Pete Garrison, a veteran agent who made his name taking a bullet for former President Ronald Regan back in the 80s. Skip forward twenty years and Garrison is a legend in the service and guarding the current First Lady (Kim Basinger). But when one of his colleagues is murdered and a threat is made against the President's (David Rasche) life, Garrison is going to get very busy especially as he's being framed by the bad guys. And while Pete's busy trying to clear his name, an ex-protegee (Kiefer Sutherland) and former student (Eva Longoria) are hot on his trail.

Playing out like a cross between "In The Line Of Fire" and "The Fugitive", "The Sentinel" certainly ticks all the necessary 'thriller' boxes. There's espionage, shot outs, fights and a suitably tense finale - but ultimately it quite reaches the level of its peers. Writer George Nolfi's screenplay (which is based on Gerald Petievich's novel) - plays is safe and so fails to really explore a couple of plot points, most notably the animosity between Douglas and Sutherland's characters, but it does keep the pace moving at the kind of rate needed to maintain tension. However "24" fans will be a little disappointed that Kiefer plays is given little to do while Longoria's character seems little more than an after thought.

On a brighter note though, Douglas is reliable as ever, especially in his scenes with Basinger, and the climax - which takes place amidst the chaos of a G8 meeting - is a gun-totin' example of the genre at its finest.

Fairly predictable yet entertaining enough, "The Sentinel" may not be remembered in six months but it's a fun enough ride.