Conrad Coates, David Rasche, Eva Longoria

Pete Garrison, a U.S. Secret Service agent who heads the First Lady's detail, is being framed as traitor in a plot to assassinate the President. Whoever is framing Garrison knows he's vulnerable becau...( read more  read more... )se he's hiding a monumental secret. Garrison goes on the run, pursued by investigative agent David Breckinridge and Jill Marin, a tough and ambitious young agent. Until recently, Breckinridge was one of Garrison's best friends. Marin requested the work detail with Breckinridge because Garrison, while leading a field instruction exercise at the Secret Service Academy, told Jill that Breckenridge was the best investigator in the Service. Now, Garrison must nail the real mole and save the President's life.

Flixster Users

48% liked it

77,496 ratings

Critics

33% liked it

133 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Clark Johnson

Release Date: April 21, 2006

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DVD Release Date: August 29, 2006

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Stats: 3,623 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (3,623)


  • June 19, 2009
    "In 141 years, there's never been a traitor in the Secret Service.... Until Now."

    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 ...( read more)FBI agent.

    REVIEW

    Aging actor Michael Douglas stars in "The Sentinel" (as in sentry or guard, not newspaper) as a Secret Service Agent in a film that revolves around a plot to assassinate the sitting President. Yes, Clint Eastwood walked in similar shoes in 1993's "In the Line of Fire", and with more satisfying results. Nonetheless "The Sentinel" is not just a derivative of Eastwood's film, but a whole slew of political thrillers shot in the Washington D.C. area. Douglas' film, though, does one better. "The Sentinel" is an overcomplicated thriller that deals not only with an assassination plot but with double-crossing, treason, White House infidelity, a tattered relationship between longtime friends, a rookie's first time out, as well as any number of twists that would likely give something away. "The Sentinel" has so many different plot lines on its plate at any given time it's amazing it didn't lose focus more often than it did. Even though "The Sentinel" was engaging, and occasionally puzzling, given the current political climate, and the precariousness of world events, a much more interesting and complex film about an assassination plot could have been made.
  • June 9, 2009
    Got much better as the movie went on, quite interesting.
  • January 7, 2009
    Pretty decent thriller about a plot to kill the American president (played by David "Sledgehammer" Rasche, now if that isn't funny enough). While it adds not much new to the genre, uses ideas from movies like "In the Line of Fire" or "The Fugitive" it is still pretty well done an...( read more)d combines a cast of good names. Kiefer Sutherland doesn't have more to do than channel Jack Bauer really and Michael Douglas is the innocent man on the run. That's entertaining, sometimes a bit rushed, sometimes not entirely believable and the ending isn't exactly a big shocker either, but never boring. There are worse ways to spend 100 minutes. Fans of the genre or the actors should be satisfied enough.
  • December 20, 2008
    Excellent thriller about a secret service agent (Michael Douglas) who is framed for a plot to kill the president. New role for Eva. Kiefer is gorgeous.
  • October 14, 2008
    It's been 19 years since Gordon Gekko used "Wall Street" to let us know that greed is good. Now, Michael Douglas takes the GG persona and morphs it into a Secret Service agent, Pete Garrison. Guess what? It works! This is a solid political thriller that kept me guessing. The deta...( read more)il work in showing the security precautions taken by the SS on behalf of the President and First Lady was likewise intriguing. All the leads were pretty good but, try as I might, I could not accept Eva Longoria as a Secret Service agent. Whereas Jodie Foster just made you suspend belief and really think she was FBI agent Starling in "Silence of the Lambs", you do not get the same feeling with Longoria. Nevertheless, this is a fun film, escapist entertainment with the Beltway as the backdrop.
  • November 12, 2009
    pretty good movie to watch.you
    should see this.
  • October 17, 2009
    Kiefer Sutherland he is my favorite actor
  • October 14, 2009
    Relatively above average thriller.
  • September 23, 2009
    Lots of star power but not much else.
  • August 23, 2009
    This was pretty recent. Looked older than it was, probably because of Michael Douglas.

Critic Reviews


April 22, 2006
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Working with DP Gabriel Beristain, Johnson shoots the go-nowhere action with an underlit, smudgy color scheme that feels like a poor photocopy of Alejandro González Iñárritu and Fernando Meirelles's s... full review

April 21, 2006
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

A well-constructed and genuinely tense thriller. full review

April 21, 2006
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

A fairly by-the-numbers route through shootings, framings, diabolical plots and lots of dark-suited Secret Service types talking frantically into their shirt cuffs. (Watch closely, and you'll figure o... full review

April 21, 2006
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Rife with meaningless hugger-mugger, the movie is no In the Line of Fire. full review

April 21, 2006
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The Sentinel is so bland that it wants only to be as good as TV. full review

April 20, 2006
Claudia Puig, USA Today

It's a competent, if forgettable and implausible, thriller with some decent acting on the part of Sutherland and Michael Douglas as Secret Service agents. full review

April 20, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

At a time when American audiences seem grateful for the opportunity to drool at mindless horror trash, it is encouraging that well-crafted thrillers are still being made about characters who have dial... full review

April 20, 2006
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's a pity that a film with so much promise descends into such lazy predictability. full review

View more The Sentinel reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • lilv23t
    July 7, 2007
    i love the whole president thing and the protection of the secret service
  • boardchik24
    March 19, 2007
    it was really good. i luv kiefer in it...... i liked it alot.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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The Sentinel Trivia


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