Murder at 1600

Razzie worthy performance from snipes and lane. What's snipes doing with his eyes in every frame? It's all over the place. It's as though he's checking both men and women out as they walk away from him. Didn't the director notice? Whoever picked Wesley snipes for this blew it. Diane lane wasted, though the only reason you'd get thru this mud pie. This movie probably wrapped up with first takes. The plot line had great potential and I was expecting an entertaining action movie, instead its a disaster with jarring acting which distracts every minute. And what on earth is Dennis miller doing in this one?

When it comes to thrillers I usually find that smaller is better. I almost always enjoy the small independent films with the second- and third-levels stars rather than the big Hollywood productions made with the A-team that cater to a broader public taste. But when your thriller is set at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the District of Columbia, it's awfully hard for a low-budget production to pull it off credibly. Besides, I'm interested in the presidency and like films that purport to give you a behind-the-scenes look, even if it is fictional, so I gave 'Murder at 1600' a chance.

Of course, if the movie is going to be longer than 15 minutes, you have to allow it some license. A lot of its success is based on how much you're willing to let go without saying, "Wait a minute!" A lot, too, depends on the cast and Wesley Snipes is a likable enough actor. Diane Lane is a big plus here as the Secret Service agent who works with him. They have a typical rocky relationship, but it's enjoyable. Daniel Benzali is ominous as the head of Secret Service. Snipes asks him what it would take for him to see some White House records and Benzali dryly answers, "Oh, not much. Just an act of Congress." Other veterans in the cast include Alan Alda, Ronny Cox and Harris Yulin. Bigger wasn't necessarily better this time but it was good enough.

That's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A young woman called Carla Town (Moore) is murdered in the White House. Homicide detective Regis (Wesley Snipes) is soon at loggerheads investigating the strange event, while Secret Service works against him. Regis is introduced to secret service chief Nick Spikings (Daniel Benzali), and national security advisor Alvin Jordan (Alan Alda). He's reluctantly assigned by hard-boiled agent Chance (Diane Lane), while head of security Nick Spikings wants the whole matter issue wrapped quickly and quietly -justice not being his main concern. Circumstantial evidence points to a cleaner, but Snipes knows a fall guy when he sees one. Coroner Jimmy Foley (Richard Blackburn) tells Regis and Nina that whoever had sex with Carla on the night of the murder used a condom, and left absolutely no DNA. Regis is told that White House janitor Cory Allen Luchessi (Tony Nappo) was unaccounted for on the night of the murder. Regis sees secret service agent Burton Cash (Nigel Bennett), who is in charge of Kyle Neil (Tate Donovan), the son of president Jack Neil (Ronny Cox) and first lady Kitty Neil (Diane Baker). Chance eventually cooperates after a man's framed. This address changes all the rules !. He's a D. C. cop on the outside. She's a Secret Service agent on the inside. Tracking a White House homicide to the First Family's front door.

Cliché-fest storyline gives stereotypical roles a little more development than you may be used to seeing, but it doesn't have them anything new or interesting to say or do. The film sometimes seems to have a television style, along with a dark and not very shiny cinematography by Steven Bernstein, adding a thrilling musical score by Christopher Young. Stars Wesley Snipes who's nice as a jaded D. C. detective called to investigate a secretary found dead in a White House bathroom. The script has President Ronny Cox trying to tough out a hostage crisis in North Korea without recourse to the military, while Snipes is understandably more concerned with the local bureaucracy about to flatten his house. The film is nothing special, but Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane make a good team, however, Dennis Miller fulfills his ordinary wise-cracking sidekick character effortessly. They're well accompanied by a good cast with plenty of familar faces, such as: Daniel Benzali, Alan Alda, Ronny Cox, Diane Baker, Tate Donovan, Harris Yulin, Tom Wright, Nicholas Pryor, Charles Rocket, Nigel Bennett, among others.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Dwight H. Little, though it has some flaws. Dwight has directed studio movies for Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures, and has also made multiple independent movies with wide theatrical release. Mr. Little has also made three prime time television movies and 90 hours of Network series television. Director Dwight H. Little gave credibility to Wesley Snipes in ¨Murder at 1600¨ and teamed up with Aikido expert Steven Seagal for ¨Marked for Death¨and ¨Rapid Fire¨ with Brandon Lee . The result is fun to watch, being a strong outing for action-packed cop thriller enthusiasts and Wesley Snipes fans. Rating: 5.5/10, acceptable and passable, but punches are pulled and all suspense jettisoned some 20 minutes from home.

I like Wesley Snipes in just about everything he has been in. I am not talking Academy Award stuff here, but just enjoyable action fare that will pass the time without making you groan.

New Jack City, Passenger 57, Rising Sun, Demolition Man, Blade I, II, III, U.S. Marshalls, and this one all provide action and entertainment. That's what we watch movies for, isn't it? The story about a conspiracy to get rid of a President (Ronnie Cox) who is not a right-wing nut job like Alan Alda is interesting, and there are interesting characters along the way like Diane Lane (Unfaithful, The Perfect Storm), Daniel Benzali ("Murder One"), and Dennis Miller (Bordello of Blood).

You won't go wrong here as Snipes shows the best character yet.

Murder at 1600 is an OK thriller film. The cast all does a pretty good job, especially Diane lane and Wesley snipes. Alan Alda also does a good sufficient job at portraying his role. The dialogue between characters is alright at best, nothing great, but nothing terrible either. The film does at least keep you guessing for the majority of the runtime. The mystery kinda builds as it goes, which is always fun. The mystery isn't the greatest one ever to be in a movie, but it is interesting to see how it all comes and works together to see who is behind everything and why in the end. The action scenes (shooting, punching, etc.) were pretty fun of the mill action sequences. That's not bad necessarily, just would've liked to have seen something a little different from the usual. 6/10 overall.