Murder At 1600 Chad'z rating: **1/2 (out of 4 = OK) 1997, R, 104 minutes [1 hour, 44 minutes] [thriller/mystery] starring: Wesley Snipes (Detective Harlan Regis), Diane Lane (Nina Chance), Daniel Benzali (Nick Spikings), Dennis Miller (Detective Stengel), written by Wayne Beach, David Hodgin, produced by Arnold Kopelson, Arnon Milchan, directed by Dwight Little.
You may have noticed there's a trend happening among Hollywood thrillers, or more specifically, thrillers concerning the government. Filmmakers know audiences want detailed (read: "complicated") stories about conspiracies so that even if they can't understand them, they won't notice the cop-outs and cliches. "Murder At 1600" lies somewhere in between the trend setters and followers as it starts out as a standard detective story but eventually becomes another over-the-top thriller.
The opening sequence does a fine job in establishing a mysterious atmosphere as we see bits and pieces of a sex scene taking place somewhere in the White House. Soon we realize the girl involved in the scene was murdered and so the "whodunit?" routine kicks in. But what's so different and interesting here is the fact the murder took place in White House, which means everyone inside, including the First Family, could be suspected.
Wesley Snipes stars as Harlan Regis, a Washington, D.C. homicide detective who is called in to investigate the murder. And since this is a political thriller you know this won't be an easy case for anyone to solve because of the element of national security. The first act lays a good, basic framework of the power of the government while at the same time making supporting characters suspects.
Of course what's a strong male lead without a female counterpart? Diane Lane co-stars as Nina Chance, an Olympic sharpshooter now a Secret Service agent who is assigned to work with Regis. At first they bicker, then they get along, and by the end they find themselves saving each others lives (at least they don't fall in love!). Let's not forget Dennis Miller as Detective Stengel - Regis' wisecracking buddy who doesn't get nearly enough screen time.
The majority of the film goes through the motions you'd expect: a possible conspiracy crops up, Regis and Chance investigate and soon find themselves in over their heads, then the process repeats. Little seems to assume anyone who's seen films like "Clear And Present Danger" and "Patriot Games" should be able to figure out what's going on, or at least be entertained by the process.
There's also those moments of cliffhangers and sudden revelations, and interaction with characters who think Regis knows too much. But every time they think they've got a suspect, a motive, and evidence it turns out what they have points at someone or something else. The plot is also conducive to double-crosses which in turn lead to chase scenes and shootouts - which is what we critics call "movie convenient."
Everything comes together for the characters in the final act, but the rest of the film breaks down. Regis, Chance, and Stengel must break into the White House in order to "catch" the killer and save the president in the process. The fact the line "We've never had a security breach in 180 years" is uttered pretty much says it all.
I think the idea behind "Murder At 1600" was to combine the commercialism of "Mission: Impossible" with the intelligence of "JFK" and "The Fugitive." Had it not tried so hard to do both at the same time it could have been something original, but the net result is at least watchable.
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e-mail: ChadPolenz@aol.com (C) 1997 Chad Polenz
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