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Movies / Upcoming / The Sentinel
The Sentinel

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The Sentinel (2006)

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Reviews Counted:133

Fresh:44

Rotten:89

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: The Sentinel starts off well enough but quickly wears thin with too many plot holes and conventional action sequences.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

US Box Office: $36,226,144

Synopsis: Pete Garrison is a U.S. Secret Service agent who saved a president's life by jumping in front of a hail of bullets, over twenty years ago. Well-liked and respected by his colleagues in the... Pete Garrison is a U.S. Secret Service agent who saved a president's life by jumping in front of a hail of bullets, over twenty years ago. Well-liked and respected by his colleagues in the Secret Service, Garrison is a career agent who now heads the First Lady's detail. He lives in a high-level, orderly world of hierarchical structure, plans, maps, motorcades, code names, lingo and procedures. It's a universe that makes sense, until secrets begin to tear it apart. Pete's fellow agent and friend, Charlie Merriweather, hints at wanting to share critical and confidential information. Before that can happen, however, Merriweather is shot dead at his house in a crime that is made to look like a botched robbery. The investigation falls to the Secret Service's top investigative agent, David Breckinridge, a volatile combination of by-the-book and hothead, Garrison's protégé, and, until recently one of Garrison's best friends. Breckinridge follows the evidence and only the evidence and scrupulously tries to avoid working from his gut. That's what being a great investigator requires. Garrison, as perhaps the greatest protective agent in the service, often has to work from gut, from pure instinct. In protective work that is often all you have. Garrison's and Breckinridge's recent falling out was triggered by Breckinridge's mistaken belief that Garrison was having an affair with Breckinridge's now ex-wife. Jill Marin, a tough, sassy and ambitious young agent who just graduated second in her class at the Secret Service Academy, arrives for her first field posting. She has requested a work detail with Breckinridge because Garrison, while leading a field instruction exercise at the Academy told Jill that Breckinridge was the best investigator in the entire Service. Together the trio begins to uncover what appears to be an inside job to assassinate the president – a traitor in the ranks of the Secret Service. It's never happened in the institution's 141-year history. Suspicion ultimately falls on Garrison, who's going to find it extremely difficult to clear his name because someone is framing him. Whoever is framing Garrison knows he's vulnerable because he's devoting considerable effort to hiding a monumental secret. Suspected of being treasonous, Garrison goes on the run, pursued by Breckinridge and Marin – his own colleagues – as he tries to nail the real mole and save the president's life. --© 20th Century Fox [More]

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Kim Basinger, Michael Douglas, Martin Donovan

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Kim Basinger, Michael Douglas, Martin Donovan, Blair Brown, Ritchie Coster, David Rasche, Eva Longoria

Director: Clark Johnson

Director: Clark Johnson
Screenwriter: George Nolfi
Producer: Michael Douglas, Arnon Milchan, Bill Carraro
Composer: Christophe Beck
Studio: 20th Century Fox

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Reviews for The Sentinel

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Sometimes, as in the case of The Sentinel, a good old rat-in-the-government picture that hews to the conventions of the genre can be an enjoyable, not terribly taxing entertainment.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
05/01/06
Jessica Letkemann
Jessica Letkemann
Premiere Magazine

Here's a TV movie that's all dressed up with an all-star cast.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
05/01/06
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

The AARP version of "24," at least showing us something we haven't seen "24's" hero do before - sleep. It's a pretty good indicator of the excitement and urgency in this stupid snoozer.

Full Review Source: State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) | comment Comment
04/28/06
Nick Rogers
Nick Rogers
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)

Wrestled to the ground by one preposterous plot turn after another.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
04/27/06
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

A mediocre time-waster

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
04/27/06
Scott Tobias
Scott Tobias
AV Club

Johnson doubtless planned to deliver a hand-wringing thriller filled with unexpected twists and turns, but even good intentions can find themselves caught in the line of fire.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
04/26/06
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

[The film] has more holes than Bush's war plan and employs less fluent English.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
04/25/06
Bill Gallo
Bill Gallo
Village Voice

A paint-by-numbers thriller so derivative that you can’t help but think about how much you’d rather be watching the numerous movies it apes.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
04/24/06
Brett Buckalew
Brett Buckalew
FilmStew.com

Nobody’s better than Michael Douglass as playing that guy who makes that big mistake, and then spends the rest of the movie trying to atone for it.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
04/24/06
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As producer/star, Michael Douglas usually chooses projects more intelligent and provocative than this prosaic, improbable, predictable action thriller.

Full Review Source: Modamag.com | comment Comment
04/24/06
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
Modamag.com

worse than those episodes of 24 featuring cougars chasing Kim Bauer

Full Review Source: Peterborough This Week | comment Comment
04/24/06
Mike Sage
Mike Sage
Peterborough This Week

Desperately wants to be as thrilling as ... In the Line of Fire, but it has much more in common (from a quality standpoint) with "Guarding Tess.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
04/24/06
Pete Vonder Haar
Pete Vonder Haar
Film Threat

Just good enough to not embarrass anyone involved.

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
04/24/06
Scott Nash
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

Recommend this one to a friend with a bum ticker. Not a single moment in the 108-minute running time is sufficient to even quicken the pulse.

Full Review Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) | comment Comment
04/23/06
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

And that's really the point here: The Sentinel is about boys, bonding, squabbling, scheming, running, and shooting. Shooting a lot.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
04/23/06
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

sleepy

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
04/23/06
Pete Croatto
Pete Croatto
Filmcritic.com

The characters are underwritten but the stars' natural charisma holds our attention and keeps us on their side, the action scenes are crisply filmed, and the location shots provide an authentic feel.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
04/22/06
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

A political thriller that lacks thrills--and motivation.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
04/22/06
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Director Clark Johnson ("S.W.A.T.") brings a little style to what is otherwise a pretty meat and potatoes presidential thriller with a solid if unexceptional cast.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/22/06
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

In an age when surprise endings and indie budgets are hip and trendy, it's nice to get a decent throwback thriller. The script may be manufactured, but the sweat stains are real.

Full Review Source: Richmond.com | comment Comment
04/22/06
Mike Ward
Mike Ward
Richmond.com
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Sentinel

April 19, 2007: Box Office Guru Preview: "Vacancy" Hopes for Full Occupancy
Another week, another horror film. That's the mantra in Hollywood at the moment. Among the four new films going into wide release this weekend are Sony's terror tale... More...

May 07, 2006: Box Office Wrapup: "Mission: Impossible III" Big, But Not Huge at #1
Tom Cruise climbed into his usual number one spot at the box office with his heavily-hyped spy sequel Mission: Impossible III, however ticket sales fell below most industry... More...

April 24, 2006: "Silent" is Golden on a Slow Box Office Weekend
Sony rode a press blackout to first place with their video game horror flick "Silent Hill." The gothic creepfest earned an estimated $20.2 million from 2,900 theaters,... More...

April 20, 2006: Critical Consensus: A Weak "Sentinel," So-So "Dreamz" Are Made Of This, "Silent Hill" Not Screened
This week at the movies we've got a Secret Service agent on a mission ("The Sentinel"), an "American Idol"- skewering political satire ("American... More...

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