The Sentinel
(2006)
review by Died with Boots On

Everyone from the cast to the writer to the director is in their element. The actor turned director Clark Johnson has been involved in television for the past decade and a half, starring in and producing such Emmy winning shows as "NYPD Blue," "Homicide," "Law & Order," "West Wing," and "The Shield." George Nolfi, the writer, is also in his niche, having written the screenplay for "Timeline," and " Ocean's Twelve," although his script for this film came vacuum packed and hermetically sealed. Having appeared in everything from " Flatliners" to "A Time To Kill," to "Phone Booth," Kiefer Sutherland is enjoying his Golden Age as the notorious Jack Bauer in "24," possessing an uncanny propensity to star in an adrenal thriller. One of my favorite actors, Michael Douglas, is the first billing actor, playing the character he plays best, the character from "Fatal Attraction," and "The War of the Roses," and "Basic Instinct," and "Falling Down," and "The Game," and "A Perfect Murder," and "Don't Say a Word." Even though he works within a narrow range, his formula for straddling the fence between romance and drama is hypnotic. Johnson's second theatrical feature – after "S.W.A.T." – "The Sentinel" showcases spellbinding photography and chic pageantry, set to the galvanized pace of the thriller recipe.

Special Agent Pete Garrison (Douglas) is a legend in the Secret Service, catching a bullet in his stomach for President Reagan during John Hinckley's assassination attempt. Waking up at the crack of dawn to allow time for his rigorous morning workout, Garrison sips his coffee while making his way into the White House. Scraping against him in a balcony corridor, Garrison's agent friend asks him if he can run a theory by him later that day. When that agent wounds up shot twice in the chest and once in the head right outside his home, red flags go up.

Agent Garrison is contacted by his seedy snitch, Walter Xavier (Raynor Scheine), whose dependably truehearted tip-offs have led to three successful drug busts. Xavier asks for one million dollars in return for information regarding a plot to assassinate the president. His loose lips divulge that the attempt hails from within the secret service, making the execution a cinch. More and more bodies begin to pile up as more people become implicated. Cars are parked in front of the agent's houses for days on end, and a polygraph test is required of all those on Secret Service detail.

Escorting the President's wife to their beach house, Garrison accompanies First Lady Sarah Ballentine ( Basinger) to her bedroom, throws his jacket to the floor, and ropes in the First Lady with a passionate embrace. Waltzing into his office the next morning, Garrison becomes nauseated by the contents of an envelope on his desk – snapshots of his affair with the First Lady. Within seconds, Special Agent David Breckinridge ( Sutherland), a man who would take down his own mother if that's what the evidence predicated, barges into Garrison's office. Garrison and Breckinridge used to be the best of friends, before Garrison presumably slept with his wife. Now they are the bitterest of enemies and look for any excuse to harangue the other, Breckinridge becoming suspicious of Garrison.

While moping around his apartment, Garrison is laid siege to be the F.B.I., who had caught him loitering in a restaurant that functions as a front for narcotics trafficking. Breckinridge kicks down his door, telling him that he failed his polygraph, and that he is suspected of treason. After screaming about being framed, Garrison tears his refrigerator door off and stylistically begins fighting his way out of the apartment with it. The rat race is on. Garrison needs to prove his innocence by contacting his informant and disclosing the identity of the traitor before Breckinridge turns the dogs on him.

My favorite performance in this movie wasn't even delivered by either of the protagonists. It was that of Raynor Scheine. He has an affinity for caricaturing bottom feeders that makes his pomp that much more endearing. I'm always happy to see Michael Douglas, especially after taking a hiatus from Hollywood's bottomless pit of noir thrillers, though his role wasn't particularly memorable. It reminded me of his performance as Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street," but instead of Wall Street, he takes advantage of the White House. I'm glad I've become acquainted with the work of Kiefer Sutherland as I missed the boat on "24," and only really know him through "Paradise Found."

"The Sentinel" is a taut throwback thriller that doesn't sabotage itself with a "jaw dropping" twist or purposely-gritty film stock that mimics the budget of an indie film. While the dialogue is wooden, the action is still climactic. This movie doesn't cheat or use sleight of hand to fashion the suspense. This is a symptomatic case of cat-and-mouse. While I do enjoy the horror genre, competent horror movies are few and far between. Instead, thrillers are storming our theaters and taking no hostages. There's nothing wrong with this movie, it's just uninspired, something to do on a rainy day.