Alan Alda Movie:

				Label: Warner Bros. Pictures Salesrank:
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
There were two movies about murder and the U.S. presidency released in 1997, and when you compare it to Absolute Power, this one is clearly the lesser of the two. That doesn't mean it's a bad movie, but it does make it a mildly disappointing one, and it illustrates the hazards of crafting a film to fit the persona of its leading man. In this case, you've got Wesley Snipes, a young, savvy man of action, playing a Washington, D.C., police detective assigned to investigate the murder of a woman in the White House. The president's son is a prime suspect, but there's a cover-up underway that forces Snipes to intensify his investigation beyond normal parameters. For a while at least, this makes Murder at 1600 a sharp and interesting film, and while the national security advisor (Alan Alda) seems highly cooperative (but don't be so sure), Snipes meets a secret service member (Diane Lane) who shares his belief in a high-level conspiracy. Unfortunately, that's when the film takes a downward plunge, resorting to a series of thriller clichés including an unlikely chase through secret tunnels beneath the White House. We're not suggesting this couldn't happen, but it's the kind of thing you typically see in movies that have run out of original ideas before they're over. Kinda makes you want to watch Absolute Power again, doesn't it? --Jeff Shannon

Murder at 1600 [Region 2] Reviews:
Murder at the White House is not what it appears
2009-10-22 - 3 of 5 stars for the drama movie Murder at 1600. A solid good movie richly photographed. The story opens with a murder in the White House. When the local police arrive the "coverup" starts. The local police detective is played by one of my favorite actors Wesley Snipes. As the investigation progresses, we start learning of missing information and false leads. On the surface, it looks like an odd murder; deeper we learn that it is a plot to ultimately force the president to resign. So the movie is interesting with several surprises and plot twists. My only complaint is that it is a long movie considering its contents. I could probably cut 30 minutes from it and make it move faster; each scene is about 10 seconds longer than it needs to be. Good direction, weak editing in post-production. OK, so I do like this movie and I do recommend it.

Can you say AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
2009-10-17 - It's a cop flick with WESLEY SNIPES, can it get any better! *sigh* Seriously though....normally i roll my eyes when I see that my mom got ANOTHER cop flick but when I watched this I realized that it wasn't just another cop flick, it was exciting, thrilling, and definitely #1 on my best cop flick list. I encourage you to if not buy this movie then at least watch it. You won't be disappointed! (WARNING: this is my opinion, this comment doesn't guarantee absolute satisfaction or any other such thing!)

suspence and intriguing film
2009-01-07 - Movie may be about 10yrs old,but it is still one of my favorite movies I have scene.Great cast.Each actor and actress were perfect for the parts they played.Can watch this movie over and over again.


Michael in N.J.

Snipes is great, but what starts as a fine political thriller just ends up with explosions, grunting fights and snipers
2008-12-08 - Murder at 1600 starts with all the clever thriller set-ups and intriguing plot grabbers of slick Hollywood at its best. It ends with all the pointless, cliché-ridden thriller hokum of slick Hollywood at its worst. What makes it work as well as it does is the appealing, intelligent performance of Wesley Snipes, an actor whose career has disintegrated into pointless, second-rate macho movies. Most of Murder at 1600 is an exciting ride, and I always enjoy boarding the roller coaster. Finally reaching the destination, however, is a yawn.

It's all about the body of a young woman, one of the secretaries, discovered in a White House bathroom. Detective Harlan Regis (Snipes) of the D. C. Police Department is assigned to investigate. The head of the White House Secret Service detail, Nick Spikings (Daniel Benzali), isn't having any of that. The White House is his turf. Matters get complicated when the murdered woman is identified as the girl friend of the President's son. She might even have been the girlfriend of the President. Regis makes clear he's not going away. Spikings assigns one of his team to work with Regis. She's Agent Nina Chance (Diane Lane), small, highly attractive and, more to the point, smart. She's also a sharp shooter. That's a talent that will come in handy later. But is she assigned to help Regis or to spy on him and report back to Spikings?

Will this be an investigation of a murder or a cover-up for a murderer? Or is the murder part of something worse...something like, say, an incursion into North Korea? What we quickly realize is that Benzali and Alan Alda, as National Security Advisor Alvin Jordan, are going to chew the scenery. By the time this complicated, high-potential mystery movie limps to its conclusion, we will have spent most of the time enjoying Wesley Snipe's charm and resourcefulness as he unthreads a conspiracy. Diane Lane's talent as an intelligent sidekick with great legs is not to be sniffed at, either. Of course, Hollywood also gives us a few nearly unkillable hit men who pop up here and there, a convenient tunnel to the White House, explosions, helicopters, car chases, kicks, grunts, the inaccurate idea that the FBI doesn't have jurisdiction over crimes committed on federal property (no big deal, some producer probably said) and a climax in the White House that involves a lot of people, including the President. But that's Hollywood big-ticket show biz.

After Murder at 1600 Snipes seems to have decided that he wanted to be one of the big, macho, impervious Hollywood hero types, the kind who star in big-budget flicks aimed for the 16- through 26-year-old crowd...the kind of movies that feature awesome explosions and mano-a-mano fights with evil. Snipes was a good actor once. Don't know what happened, but Snipes personally and professionally seems to have taken the long drop.

At any rate, I still enjoy Murder at 1600, and I like Snipes' performance so well I can even get past the last 25 minutes. He was one of several actors who made vivid impressions in the great, odd King of New York (Special Edition). In a sidekick role, he nearly edged Sean Connery off stage center in Rising Sun, and he proved he could handle comedy easily in White Men Can't Jump.

Could This Happen
2008-08-23 - A murder in the White House? Could this really happen? Today, I guess, just about anything can happen. Who knows what people with "agendas" are capable of doing.

Wesley Snipes is on the D.C. police force and is called in to investigate a murder at the White House. Diane Lane is on the White House Secret Service detail and the two together work to solve "who done it".

This was a very good suspense movie, well acted by all the cast. The blending of Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane as a team was very interesting.