3 Pulses

As audiences of Hollywood productions of late have been inundated with comedy, blood and bleak sci-fi scenarios, The Sentinel comes along as a refreshing and old-fashioned I’m-being-framed-and-chased-by-the-good-guys-while-I-look-for-the-real-bad-guy thriller.

Douglas portrays Secret Service agent Pete Garrison who, in 1981, helped protect Ronald Reagan from assassination and took a bullet himself.

25 years later, he is still guarding the president, this time President Ballentine. In what many would consider a big conflict of interest, Garrison is sleeping with the president’s wife, played by Kim Basinger.

The film opens with the assassination of a Secret Service agent who had wanted to meet with Garrison. Garrison then discovers there is a mole within the Secret Service (something that’s unheard of) from an informer and that the mole is helping set up the assassination of the president.

When Garrison fails a lie detector test, he becomes the primary suspect and the chase ensues. While Garrison is being chased by Sutherland and Longoria, he artfully dodges capture while trying to stop the assassination.

While the film carries nice thrills and a good attempt at providing technical expertise of the Secret Service, its formula and plot is nothing we haven’t seen before. Sutherland does a fairly good job of shedding his “Jack Bauer” shadow, but shades of 24 are inevitable as he chases what he believes to be a dire terrorist threat in Garrison.

Douglas provides a solid performance, although audiences may need to suspend their disbelief as they watch a 60-something man perform feats that would be fantastic for even a 20-something.

This is director Clark Johnson’s second film behind S.W.A.T. and shows he is remaining in the safety of formulaic yet entertaining action thrillers featuring lots of guns. Douglas’ and Sutherland’s roles are also not stretches from the roles they typically play.

All in all, The Sentinel delivers what anyone would expect it to. No more, no less.