Barnes & Noble

The best at what he does, veteran Secret Service agent Pete Garrison (Michael Douglas) is regarded with awe by the newly recruited agents who study the field tactics he developed. Yet, during the investigation of a presidential assassination plot, Garrison somehow becomes a prime suspect. Agent David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland), a onetime friend who now holds a grudge against his mentor, is assigned to bring him in. This is a fine follow-up to 2003’s S.W.A.T. by director Clark Johnson, who, after achieving acclaim as Det. Meldrick Lewis in Homicide, broke into directing with acclaimed episodes of The Shield, The Wire, and others. He nimbly establishes the major character and plot points of this involved, spellbinding thriller in fast-moving scenes of exposition while skillfully ratcheting up the tension. Douglas, as always, is sympathetic and solid, if fatally attracted to the wrong women (such as First Lady Kim Basinger), while Sutherland imbues the embittered protégé with the same intensity that makes him so riveting on 24. Sledge Hammer! veteran David Rasche delivers an impressive turn as President Ballentine, and Martin Donovan logs another outstanding portrayal as a face-saving bureaucrat. Cast as a rookie agent working with Sutherland, Eva Longoria does her best but is ultimately unable to rescue a blatantly superfluous character. That may be the only major quibble when it comes to this solid, unpretentious genre film. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A man who has devoted himself to serving the leader of the free world is accused of plotting against him in this thriller. Pete Garrison (Michael Douglas) is a veteran Secret Service agent who has had a long and distinguished career helping protect the president of the United States. David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland) is a fellow Secret Service agent who learned most of what he knows from Garrison and holds him in great respect. When intelligence data suggests that there is a mole within the Secret Service who is part of a plot to assassinate President Ballentine (David Rasche), Garrison launches an investigation to ferret out the rogue agent, and asks Breckinridge to go over the evidence with a fine-toothed comb. Breckinridge is shocked when the clues point to Garrison as the traitor within the Secret Service, but his sense of duty compels him to see that his former mentor is placed under arrest. Garrison eludes his captors and struggles to prove his innocence while tracking down the real conspirator and eluding the agents who were once his colleagues. As Breckinridge leads the search for Garrison, another ranking agent, Jill Marin (Eva Longoria) plays devil's advocate, convinced that Garrison couldn't possibly be the rat in the house. The Sentinel also co-stars Kim Basinger as the First Lady. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 024543266020
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: 1
• Time: 1:48:00
• Sales Rank: 20,676

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