The Sentinel (2006)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Clark Johnson

Writers (WGA):

George Nolfi (screenplay)
Gerald Petievich (novel)

Release Date:

21 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Let's do this

Plot:

A secret service agent is framed as the mole in an assassination attempt on the president. He must clear his name and foil another assassination attempt while on the run from a relentless FBI agent.

Plot Keywords:

Secret Service | President | Framed | Assassination | On The Run

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Michael Douglas	...	Pete Garrison
Kiefer Sutherland	...	David Breckinridge
Eva Longoria Parker	...	Jill Marin (as Eva Longoria)
Martin Donovan	...	William Montrose
Ritchie Coster	...	The Handler
Kim Basinger	...	1st Lady Sarah Ballentine
Blair Brown	...	National Security Advisor
David Rasche	...	President Ballentine
Kristin Lehman	...	Cindy Breckinridge
Raynor Scheine	...	Walter Xavier
Chuck Shamata	...	Director Overbrook
Paul Calderon	...	Deputy Director Cortes
Clark Johnson	...	Charlie Merriweather (as Clarque Johnson)
Raoul Bhaneja	...	Aziz Hassad
Yanna McIntosh	...	Teddy Vargas

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some intense action violence and a scene of sensuality.

Runtime:

108 min | Philippines:107 min (cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | UK:12A | Malaysia:U | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Ireland:12A | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:MG6 | Argentina:13 | Sweden:11 | Romania:A.G. | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42418) | Australia:M | Denmark:11 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Norway:15 | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U

Filming Locations:

Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In the behind-the-scenes featurette, the Secret Service consultant for the movie stated that 'Eva Longoria' far surpassed the other actors in "shooting school". In fact, he remarked that her score would beat about 90% of members of the Secret Service. Longoria mentioned that when she was younger she often accompanied her father to the gun range, so being around and handling guns wasn't new to her.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first shot when the presidential helicopter "Marine One" gets hit by the missile, you see the missile and its smoke trail. In the following shot where the helicopter explodes, the smoke trail of the missile is gone.

Quotes:

1st Lady Sarah Ballentine: [to Agent Breckinridge] Pete Garrison and I are having an affair. Please, have a seat...and that's for you. You know, I don't know all the evidence you have against him, but I do know why he failed the lie detector test. And I know why he was in the coffee shop looking for someone.

Movie Connections:

References Flight of the Phoenix (2004)

Soundtrack:

Bullet and a Target

Pointless, Z-movie garbage

The Sentinel represents everything about the soul-lessness of Hollywood and the saddening lack of imagination present in so many movies these days. I cannot possibly think of one good thing about it, it's all so generic, so factory-made and so lazy assembled that it really only exists as an infomercial on how to make money from the unsuspecting, undeserving public.

A plot about a Secret Service Agent planning to assassinate the Prez could well be entertaining. If handled by a good director or caring cast that is. Douglas is the one who is framed. Basinger is the First Lady, with whom he is having an affair (an undeveloped, unresolved plot contrivance). Sutherland is the best pal who believes his guilty because there would be no movie if he didn't. And Longoria is nothing. A woman with a fortune of Maybelline and...that's it. I guess there are less requirements for women when entering the Secret Service. As usual in a film like this the role of the Prez himself is nothing more than a tool, a token and is very badly written.

Clark Johnson's, he who gave us the equally as pathetic SWAT back in 2003, mechanical direction lacks any kind of signature and has all the visual sophistication of a cheap TV-movie. Douglas, Basinger and Sutherland look incredibly bored and phone-in their performances from afar. Eva Longoria, the most over-exposed woman of the 21st Century, is basically only in this to attract to the Desperate Housewives audience. Her role is 100% pointless and she does absolutely nothing to further the plot or add to character development. She barely has 2 lines to rub together. A truly shameless marketing ploy.

If you're a glutton for punishment then don't let me stop you. But it IS time and money you won't be getting back.