The Sentinel is so bland that it wants only to be as good as TV.
The Sentinel (2006)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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
Reviews for The Sentinel
A routine yet diverting political thriller ... if it doesn't reach new moviemaking heights, that's probably because it's not aiming for them.
The story and style fit comfortably with today's TV and movie fashions: the cop procedural, kinetic editing, a pressure-cooker job rife with competition, and a countdown to possible disaster.
It's a direct-to-DVD-quality effort with a byzantine pulp-airport-novel plot line.
The movie goes barreling full-speed ahead in the wrong direction, as if the umpteenth film about a potential presidential assassination could possibly compare to, say, any given episode of 24.
The Sentinel runs through its contrived and prescribed paces efficiently enough, but with minimal real tension or the kind of character involvement that really makes you invest in its outcome.
The Sentinel, a thriller that delivers a few pulse-pounding moments before running aground on its own derivativeness.
The Sentinel's brains may be mush, but its brawn is powered by superb stunts, high-tech gizmos and a potent sense of peril.
A rather mechanical, soulless affair that avoids politics or anything else that might clearly define who these characters are and why we should care.
The Sentinel, a contrived and tepid thriller that insists on wanting to interest us in its main plot -- the usual nefarious plan to assassinate the leader of the free world.
The cat-and-mouse game between Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland (as Jack Bauer in a nicer suit) is all mouse and no cat, and the action scenes are hampered by poor shooting and slipshod editing.
There are tense situations, daring escapes, shots fired, innocent civilians at risk, foreign terrorists. What else do you need?
A decently crafted if dull innocent-man-on-the-run drama with all the excitement of a White House press briefing. We know most of the answers before there are questions.
There are thousands of us in over-air-conditioned screening rooms all over the country, throwing our bodies between you and bad movies. When I see a bullet coming, I'll take the hit so you don't have to. Don't thank me, ma'am. It's my job.
The Sentinel is nearly suspense-free, and it's galling to watch Sutherland take a back seat to the aging Michael Douglas.
Implausible and overdirected, The Sentinel buries a fuzzy plot under a ton of frenzied action.
The movie strains with fast cuts and Steadicam swoops to make thrilling a job that, while hardly mundane, should be routine.
C'mon, how seriously are we supposed to take a film in which the President of the United States is played by Sledge Hammer! ???
Unabashedly, the movie aims not to be original or daring, but to keep audiences plastered to their seats. Almost always, it whole-heartedly reaches that goal.
I worry about the U.S. Secret Service, if The Sentinel is any indicator of its collective ability.
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...
More Movies
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 70% 70% | Where the Wild Things Are | 03/12 |
| 83% 83% | Paranormal Activity | 03/12 |
| 89% 89% | Zombieland | 03/12 |
| 76% 76% | The Informant! | 03/12 |
| | The Strength of Water | 03/12 |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- The Sentinel at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Sentinel at IGN
- The Sentinel at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.

Double passes up for grabs to the new comedy starring Paul Giamatti.

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions

Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.

We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection



Top Critic

