“The Sentinel” starring Michael Douglas, Keifer Sutherland and Eva Longoria is a great action-suspense film.
By John E. Carey
March 20, 2007
Critics gave this film a C+ and Yahoo users gave it a B- but I am rating this one higher, like maybe an A-.
The plot is simple and terrifying: the Secret Service believes one of its own is involved in a plot to kill or abduct the President of the United States.
This problem leads to widespread use of lie detector tests for all agents. But one slips by.
We also discover that there are problems within the Secret Service and the White House. Adultery compounds the search.
But the real problem is this: how does the Secret Service catch a guy that knows all their tricks, reads their email and hangs out in the White House wearing a gun and a badge?
Douglas is great as one of the agents that helped save Ronald Reagan during an assassination attempt. Sutherland gives one of his finest performances as the agent trying to solve the mystery.
Longoria is too sexy as a Secret Service agent and it seems like that was the reason the film makers put her in this: just for the cheesecake appeal.
Kim Basinger is the First Lady and though she is no longer a teenager she is still a “hottie,” even as First Lady. But my wife and I thought her clothes were a little off for the First Lady.
David Rasche is solid as President Ballentine. I didn’t know his name but I recognized his face immediately.
This is a movie about moles, traitors, chases, and riddle solving. The Secret Service procedures look real and the film is exciting and at the same time filled with suspense and drama.
A sort of creepy musical score adds to this film’s suspense.
Now on DVD and on cable, buy, rent or steal “The Sentinel.” It’s a goodie!
