Reel Reviews: ‘The Sentinel’ pure entertainment
This enjoyable piece of pure entertainment hits most of its marks. The cast is in good form, the cinematography appropriate, and the story interesting. Though the direction gives the film a T.V.-drama feel, “The Sentinel” is a quick moving crime thriller that is good enough to make the cut.
The film is based on a novel of the same name, by Gerald Petievich, a retired U.S. Secret Service Agent who writes similar novels full time. “The Sentinel” did in fact have such a feel of being told by an insider, that my interest is piqued, and I’m anxious to pick up a Petievich novel. The author already has a fan with Michael Douglas, anyway, who opted to both produce and star in this film.
Douglas stars as Special Agent Pete Garrison, a middle-aged Agent who has been around since the 1980’s. His protégé, played by Kiefer Sutherland, is Agent David Breckenridge, the best investigator around. He’s so good that he’s assigned a new trainee, Jill Marin, played by Eva Longoria.
The main premise is this: Agents of the Secret Service, whose job is to protect the U.S. President & Co., begin to suspect an assassin in the ranks; an assassin who is aiming for the president. Agent Breckenridge, who I mentioned is the best investigator around, is put on the case. The hook? The trail Breckenridge follows points to his mentor, Agent Garrison, as the primary suspect.
Any more details would ruin the fun of this type of whodunit mystery, which was put together quite well. My biggest complaint, however, is that the film had a segmentation to it that didn’t feel quite cinematic. It sometimes felt like a T.V. miniseries was edited together, stitched with graphic montages. This feeling was probably also kindled by the casting of Kiefer Sutherland and Eva Longoria, both starring in hit T.V. shows “24” and “Desperate Housewives,” respectively.
But I’m not complaining about the cast. Sutherland was especially interesting, playing a principled, ticked off agent whose scratchy voice never gets old. Douglas is still an engaging leading man to watch, and he’s believable as a Secret Service Agent.
The fun of a movie like this is really playing the guessing game, and trying to predict where the film is leading. Enhancing the mood well is the cinematography, with abundant deep focus and panning shots. Often I felt as if I was seeing the action through a surveillance camera. The attention detail paid off, boosting the tension well.
“The Sentinel” is an interesting, fast-paced look into the life of Secret Service Agents. And while the drama doesn’t dig too deep, the unpredictable action drives the film forward to an interesting finale.
Chris Blakesley is a film critic for the Utah Statesman. Comments and questions can be sent to him at
cblakes@cc.usu.edu.