Desperately seeking suspense

Reviewed by Vives Anunciacion
(unpublished)

The Sentinel
Directed by Clark Johnson
Written by George Nolfi
Based on the novel by Gerald Petievich
Starring Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria
PG 13/ 108 minutes
20th Century Fox/ Regency

At 61, Michael Douglas should probably retire from making any more action movies, his long filmography has apparently taken the better of him. Or, to put it in another way, we already liked him when he played President Andrew Shepard in the romantic comedy, The American President way back in 1995.

In The Sentinel, Douglas plays Secret Service Agent Pete Garrison, who is directly assigned to protect US First Lady Sarah Ballentine (Kim Basinger), although this is no Guarding Tess, the comedy about a retired First Lady and her bumbling Secret Service bodyguard starring Shirley MacLaine.

Anyway, back to The Sentinel. A secret service agent is mysteriously killed and the agency’s top agent, David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland), investigates the murder. He is joined by a fresh academy graduate Jill Marin, played by Eva Longoria, who was likely cast here in her first movie for no other reason than to grab the attention of the millions of Desperate Housewife fans.

Breckenridge’s investigation leads him to former best friend Garrison, who, despite having a respected career behind him, now appears to be behind a serious plot to assassinate the US President. Garrison suspects he is being framed-up, and goes into hiding while trying to prove his innocence and trying to save the President’s life at the same time. Breckenridge has reasons to distrust Garrison – he suspects Garrison to have had an affair with his now ex-wife. What he doesn’t know is that Garrison is having an affair with the First Lady. Things untangle in the end, and the agents cooperate in the nick of time to save the President.

The Sentinel is such a mishmash of old thrillers The Fugitive, In the Line of Fire and a little CSI and Basic Instinct - at some points the movie becomes exciting and irrelevant at the same time. The Fugitive worked the first time in that it was an innovation at the time, which partly explained why its sequel, US Marshals, wasn’t as successful five years after. Same theory holds with Basic Instinct. In contrast, In the Line of Fire, starring Clint Eastwood, is still relevant in a post-9/11 age. Come to think of it, all of the stars in those movies are past the usual prime.

The problem with The Sentinel is that it belabors to show the intense security that a US president receives on a daily basis, only to show how lax it becomes, what little mistakes can cause outside the White House. That simply doesn’t bode well if the movie serves as a Hollywoodized recruitment video for possible agents of the Secret Service. Sleek production value doesn’t compensate for an outdated concept and an aging lead actor who simply can’t walk the walk when the scene asks him to make a run. Sutherland, combining Tommy Lee Jones and his own Jack Bauer in 24, makes a commendable attempt to bring flavor to his scenes, but it still isn’t his movie.

We’ve seen this before, though it’s not as bad as it seems. It’s just that The Sentinel has no point in the history of things.