The Sentinel

Clark Johnson's political thriller The Sentinel features Kiefer Sutherland as a Secret Service agent trying to track down an assassin, but this is no big-screen version of Kiefer's day job on 24: actually, the star here is Michael Douglas, who plays Sutherland's old mentor, now head of the detail protecting the First Lady (Kim Basinger). In the first half of the film, Douglas—who has a deep, dark (and absurd) secret that makes him an ideal candidate for blackmail—is framed as the chief suspect in a plot to kill the president. In the second half, he predictably goes on the run to clear himself, pursued by his now-estranged protégé and the younger man's new partner, a rookie (Eva Longoria) whom Douglas just happens to have trained, too. The Sentinel starts out very silly and then grows increasingly preposterous: Douglas' secret is steamy nonsense (and his efforts to keep it under wraps are remarkably inept), the rationale behind the assassination plot is murky at best, and the hugely implausible shootout at the close suggests that an armed infiltration of an international assembly is the easiest thing in the world to orchestrate. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Clark Johnson and screenwriter George Nolfi, the 13-minute featurette “The Secret Service: Building on a Tradition of Excellence,” 11 minutes of deleted scenes—including an alternate ending—with optional commentary by Nolfi, an eight-minute “In the President's Shadow: Protecting the President” featurette, and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a ludicrous thriller.] (F. Swietek)