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The Sentinel
USA, 2006
[Clark Johnson]
Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria, Kim Basinger
Action / Thriller
   22nd Sept 2006
On paper, and indeed in the trailers, this sounded great. Michael Douglas as an aging Secret Service agent, tasked with protecting the President, framed for an attempt on his life and forced to go on the lam. Hunted down by the ruthlessly competent Jack Bau� sorry, Kiefer Sutherland, and the sultry and acting-impaired Eva Longoria, he must use all of his training and experience to remain out of their custody whilst simultaneously tracking down the real perpetrators and fulfilling his mission: to keep the President safe. Sounds good huh?

Yeah, well, it does but the reality is a little different. While I have no problem with Douglas being cast in this role, he is after all an old man, I can�t for the life of me figure out why Sutherland, who plays this type of role for 8 months out of the year on
24, would sign on to do it all over again. His two characters are so similar (brooding, tough-talking, fearless men-of-action) that it is impossible to separate the image of Jack Bauer from this film. Longoria on the other hand appears to have been cast because she�s in a hit show, and she�s a lovely bit of totty. It certainly wasn�t on ability.

These aren�t the only problems however. The film is distinctly lacking in the sort of tension that has been perfected in this genre of late, Douglas only appears to be on the run for about 15 minutes before he�s stopped by Sutherland, and the two men, who apparently have been at loggerheads for years, suddenly overcome this mutual dislike to save the day. There�s little or no transition in mood or scene and so you�re left just having to accept it all.

The apparent conspiracy is also weakly portrayed. Maybe I�ve just been spoilt by
24�s labyrinthine plots but I usually expect my bad guys to have a little screen time, a little exposition, and to see them as a serious, unique and possibly unstoppable threat. However, the whole thing seems to be run through some little wiener, and Douglas has little problem blowing the whole thing wide open due to the one baddies grotesque incompetence. Simply put, there was little substance behind The Sentinel�s interesting fa�ade and it was hard not to feel very let down by it all. You might as well just rewatch your old seasons of 24, it�ll be much more satisfying.
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