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The Movie: "24" has rebooted Keifer Sutherland's career, with his Jack Bauer character arguably the actor's most famous role. One might think that, due to the popularity of the character, Sutherland would try to do something different to stretch or try not to be typecast. "The Sentinel" casts him as...a secret service agent. One half expects a moment where he yells the oft-used Jack Bauer quote, "We're running out of time!" Directed by Clark Johnson ("SWAT"), "Sentinel" opens with long-time agent Pete Garrison (Michael Douglas) going about his daily business, checking in with other agents, providing security watch and... having an affair with the first lady, Sarah (Kim Basinger). Elsewhere, an agent that had spoken to Garrison later in the day is killed and eventually, all roads lead back to Garrison. Believing that there's a mole in the agency and that someone is planning to assassinate the president, Garrison goes on the run to prove his innocence. Following close behind are agents David Breckinridge (Sutherland) and Jill Marin (Eva Longoria). Garrison is the former mentor of Breckinridge, but the two are on bad terms after Garrison also had an affair with Breckinridge's wife, as well. The film's cat-and-mouse game is nothing particularly new, with the film taking from "Fugitive", "In the Line of Fire" and others. Those familiar with Sutherland's "24" (and "CSI" and a number of other TV shows that have raised the bar for this sort of thing) are going to find this rather routine by comparison. It's not the actors that are the issue here, as Sutherland and Douglas are pretty good going up against one another. Basinger is wasted in an underwritten role, but she's good in her few moments on-screen. Even Longoria is pretty decent as an agent. The material, however, feels old-fashioned and generic, with George Nolfi ("Timeline" and "Ocean's 12", both of which are not exactly favorites)'s screenplay pulling out a number of cliches. There's also some questionable plot points, such as the fact that Garrison is regarded as "the best of the best", yet doesn't have the smarts to know he'll eventually get caught in an affair with the first lady. Additionally, a character reveals a plot point to another character late in the movie that really takes away from what we've just sat through in the middle of the picture. Director Clark Johnson also doesn't do much to perk up the material, once again presenting the material (as he did with "SWAT") with a style that's dry and rather no-frills for this kind of material. Overall, "The Sentinel" does offer a good cast (Sutherland and Douglas make a good pairing, but this is not the best material to bring them together), who do fine work. However, the material they're working with is too "been there, done that", remaining predictable and too familiar. The DVD VIDEO: The copy that arrived for review offered all of the features of the final product, but did not offer the same presentation quality as final product. The 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen edition offered generally crisp and clear images, aside from a few moments of softness. Concerns included some mild shimmering, occasional artifacting and a few instances of edge enhancement. On a positive note, the print looked crisp and clean, with no dirt/debris or wear. Colors looked low-key, but accurately presented. Hopefully the retail copy will look much better. SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack was a pretty straightforward affair, with moderate amounts of surround use during the action scenes to deliver ambience, occasional sound effects and reinforcement for the score. Otherwise, the audio essentially folded up to the front speakers. Audio quality was fine, with punchy sound effects and crisp, clear dialogue. EXTRAS: Director Clark Johnson and writer George Nolfi sit down for an audio commentary for the feature. I've liked none of Nolfi's screenplays so far and Johnson's feature films have been average at best, but surprisingly, I actually did like this commentary quite a bit. The two offer up an informative and easygoing chat about the making of the picture, discussing filming in DC, production difficulties, working with the actors, story and more. The two rarely stop to heap praise on cast/crew or narrate the story, keeping the discussion informative and on-track. 5 deleted scenes are offered up, with optional commentary from Nolfi. The scenes mainly seem like they were just unnecessary, but the alternate ending is just silly, taking time to wrap up every single thread in a cheery manner. Two featurettes ("Building on a Tradition of Excellence" and "In the Shadow of the President") run about 20 minutes total and explore the history of the secret service. Both featurettes are informative and interesting and provide a nice background on this subject of the film. Finally, we get 2 trailers for "The Sentinel" and trailers for: "Thank You For Smoking", "Behind Enemy Lines 2", "Romancing the Stone & The Jewel of the Nile", and "24 Season 4". Final Thoughts: "The Sentinel" makes for a decent rental for those seeking a "time waster", but the picture certainly had potential to be more than just an option for a rainy afternoon. Rent it. 
Film Grade The Film C+ DVD Grades Video ? Audio: ? Extras: 83/B |