The Sentinel - PG-13

Decent thriller with crisp performances. Teens OK.

Rating: PG-13 for some intense action violence and a scene of sensuality Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Directed By: Clark Johnson Cast: Kim Basinger, Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland Running Time: 108 minutes Release Date: 04/21/2006 Genre: Thriller

Common Sense Note

Parents should know the movie includes several high-octane action sequences, with multiple murders by shooting, knifing, and explosion. The violence can be aggressive and several bodies appear bloodied (including a man with his throat cut). Two characters engage in an adulterous affair, revealed when a third party takes high-tech surveillance photos. Some mild sexual references and language.

Families can talk about the violence that is so common in action movies. Is it realistic? Is it necessary to engage or thrill the audience?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs

Michael Douglas looks in good shape in THE SENTINEL. As Secret Service agent Pete Garrison, he's clearly been on the beat for some time -- he still has nightmares about taking a bullet for President Regan -- but he hardly breaks a sweat when he's being chased by various villains or David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland, playing a somewhat less urgent version of Jack Bauer, that is, a stern, under-pressure, principled special agent). Assigned to protect the First Lady, also known as Sarah (Kim Basinger), Pete is stunned when a longtime friend (played by director Clark Johnson) is murdered on his front step. And he gets worried when a plot to assassinate the president emerges and he becomes the prime suspect.

David, who heads the Protective Intelligence Division of the Secret Service, is assigned to investigate the agent's murder, helped by newbie agent Jill Marin (Eva Longoria), who shows up the first day in a tight pantsuit with visible cleavage (male agents remark on her figure and ask her out; she tries to ignore them). David is also harboring anger at Pete, whom he suspects of having had an affair with his (David's) wife, from whom he is now divorced. And indeed, Pete seems unable to make good judgments about his romantic partners, as he is currently involved with Sarah, a major no-no in the Secret Service.

The investigation leads to some predictable places, a set of would-be assassins with thick and also shifting Russian accents (they claim to be ex-KGB and threaten their mole's family with horrific violence), as well as several confrontations between David and Pete (including a chase scene on a ship and a verbal argument in Pete's apartment. Clark Johnson's direction is sharp, maintaining a quick-enough pace and smart camerawork, almost making you forget the preposterousness of the plot and easy-to-tell "real traitor." Shootouts and car chases make good use of DC locations and a G8 gathering in Toronto, though Pete's drive from Camp David into downtown Washington appears to take mere minutes -- impossible unless he's been zapped by a Star Trekian transporter.

The Magyverish Pete out-gizmos his fellow agents with a few precise purchases from Radio Shack, and takes out a series of accented thugs to boot. More distractingly, his contest with Breckinridge never quite gels, as they so obviously admire one another, even with girls (the First Lady and the ex-wife) providing requisite hetero cover. The movie is quite pleased with its focus on boys' business, rendering it in terms that are at once clever, silly, and slick.

Families who like this movie will also like In the Line of Fire (rated R), Sutherland's Fox TV series, 24, and director Johnson's stylistically similar action film, S.W.A.T.S.W.A.T.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content A woman's bottom appears in close-up as she walks; a brief, passionate sex scene, with woman's blouse unbuttoned and kissing/embracing; discussion of illicit affair between First Lady and her Secret Service protector.
Violence Shootings (body appears from overhead, blood on sidewalk beneath; another appears with blood on chest), chasing/running, knifing, explosions (Marine One, Presidential helicopter, shot down by missile); major, extended shootout at end, with President trapped in hotel stairwell and multiple bodies dropped.
Language Minor language ("hell"), obscene finger gesture.
Message
	Social Behavior The villains outnumber the heroes, but heroes are mostly stalwart (save for the adulterers).
	Commercialism Starbucks, brand-stores in mall (Subway, Seattle's Best, Radio Shack).
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Ashtray filled with cigarette butts; question when an informant demands a million dollars: "What are you smoking?!" First Lady drinks whiskey.