Clint Eastwood may be a little too old (plus he kind of already did his own version of this movie in 1993's In the Line of Fire), but Harrison Ford could have been The Sentinel's lead and lent the same kind of top-flight Hollywood superstar craft that Michael Douglas brings as a superstar secret service agent fighting a frame-up in a panicky countdown to peril. That the marquee name could have belonged to anyone with the same chops as Douglas is no slam to him, Ford, Eastwood, or anyone else of their ilk. The Sentinel is a crackling good thriller because everyone involved is working at the top of their game. Pete Garrison (Douglas) is on the presidential protection detail when another agent is murdered. A creepy informer tells Garrison about an elaborate assassination conspiracy that's related and well underway. Garrison also happens to be having an affair with the First Lady (Kim Basinger), the stress of which causes him to flunk a lie detector test when word of the plot to kill the president becomes more than just paranoia.

Garrison is soon on the run, being hunted by his protege David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland, whose 24 experience gives his performance an extra edge). But Garrison is the best, using all his secret service wiles (and there are plenty, the details of which give added tension and authenticity to the taut script) to evade his former comrades as the clock ticks. You can often see the plot thickening a mile away, and as much as the movie wants to keep us guessing, the real bad guy is an easy mark for the audience. But the energy and kinetic skill which propel the action are always spot on and enough to keep us from caring about the giveaways. Co-star Eva Longoria is miles away from her Desperate Housewives role and miles away from any real import of character in the movie. But the rest of the cast and the whooshing forward momentum of style and anxiety are plenty to keep The Sentinel in full-tilt suspense mode from beginning to end. --Ted Fry

This isn't going to set the world on fire but it has a lot of good spy potboiler fun in it, updated for a modern world. Some good setpieces, and Michael Douglas is still a good leading man. Pretty fair movie.

I had the unhappy experience of watching this on blu-ray! Phew! Even the moderately crisp visual appeal and the colour styling was to no avail.What a dreadfully mediocre film and what a disappointment.
One wonders whether this was a desperate ploy or a last-ditch attempt to re-establish Michael Douglas as a credible acting force. Clearly the central role would have been far better served by Keifer Sutherland who turns in a good, creditable performance. However the script can not be saved. It is predictable and unworthy of his talent. Kim Basinger is drastically under-used and turns in a barely workmanlike performance.All in all, one is just left feeling very dissatisfied; a political thriller with no thrills and even less political insight. As a narrative so many opportunities were missed here for suprise or interest. This one is straight to the sell-off bin. Keifer...Why did you do it? Was it just to pull in some extra cash for the divorce settlement? There seems to be no other reason for it let alone any advancement or enhancement of anyone's career with this banality. All that registers is just the ingrained memory of the abhorrent,living gargoyle mask that is Michael Douglas.OUCH! Never a looker, his appeal for Ms Zeta Jones is evidently clear....Was that a wallet in his pocket or was he just pleased to see her?

this is a bit of a guilty pleasure but is a disposable fluff.it has nothing new and is complete assembly line fluff

The Sentinel is a film that looks great on paper, or even in a trailer, but it fails to deliver. It starts off looking promising, think In The Line of Fire or Enemy of the State type conspiracy thriller. But it very soon descends into a rather tedious by the numbers effort. I kept waiting for a surprising twist or a great chase scene, but it never came. To be honest by the time the film ended I was just relieved, and quickly forgot what it was all about. It's a shame because it has a great cast, but it looks like someone decided "right we're going to make a conspiracy thriller" but then spent all the budget on the actors and with the ten quid they had left over they asked a ten year old to write the script.
If you've never seen a thriller before, you might enjoy it, but you'd be better off with an episode of 24 or CSI.

Sentinel...a slick American political thriller, based around the Secret Service and the protection of the American President. When top agent (Douglas)is framed for an inside plot to assainate the president, He uses his elite training to avert arrest and sets out to clear his name and find the real villains behind the plot. Hot in pursuit is his old friend and ex protege student (Sutherland) teamed with his new hotshot rookie and token eye candy played by Eva longoria of Desperate housewives fame. Sentinel starts off well enough. It offers a nice perspective on how the secret service work, and feels authentic. It's stylishly filmed and grips from the off. You can sense unrest and feel the tension as the secret service work relentlessy around the president to ensure his safety, and avert any potential danger. Despite all this,it still wreaks of other films in it's genre.Think 24 series 1 or The Fugitive, and your not far off, Albeit it is not in the same league as the afforementioned. It quickly spirals into a VERY predictable story.The tension is all too soon lost, and there are no twists or turns to even make it slightly original or interesting. Sutherland is underused and is wasted in this roll. The 'baddies' are non-descript, typecast,cut and paste from any relatively similar film. The ending is diabolical and you will feel very 'is that it?' once the credits roll. The whole thing feels patchy and loses it's direction half way through.It all starts so stylishly well, and could have been something special, but sadly this effort will be all to quickly forgotten. Roll on 24 the movie...