Murder At 1600 -- Movie Review #JPMN

• Murder At 1600 (1997) -- Unimpressive procedural presented with some interesting twists, 6/10.

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Your host, and film critic Jonathan Paula reviews everything from opening day releases, recent DVDs, upcoming trailers, and classics from years past. Each "Quick Review" is an excerpt from a full episode, which airs on the Jogwheel channel every week.

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Created by ------ Jonathan Paula
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~~ Review Script ~~
Based on the novel "Murder In The White House" by President Harry S. Truman's daughter Margaret Truman, this crime drama from director Dwight Little was a modest success, earning $26 million at the box office. The downright absurd premise follows Washington D.C. homicide detective Wesley Snipes who is curiously summoned to the executive mansion to investigate the titular crime. If the Secret Service was actually absentminded enough to allow such a violent act to occur - the poor victim has her throat slashed open in a bathroom stall - are we really meant to believe they'd request outside help from a civilian cop? The 107-minute story is undeniably intriguing though, especially once that pesky "jurisdiction" nonsense is addressed. The twisty-turny narrative throws its audience off the scent with a number of convincing red herrings. I mean, you have Alan Alda and Ronny Cox as smarmy old white politicians: either one could be involved in a cover-up. Snipes is his usual fast-talking and sarcastic bad-ass, not afraid to butt heads against authority to get the answers he wants. When he suggests that the POTUS himself may be a suspect, Alda is quick to remind him that the presidential institution is one that "will be protected at all costs." Diane Lane functions great as the headstrong and beautiful secret service agent opposite, while Dennis Miller is effective as Snipes' partner, even if he's just playing Dennis Miller. The unique character details are liberally sprinkled on like salt on popcorn; Wesley isn't just a cop... he also builds miniatures. And Diane is just secret service, she's also an Olympic gold medalist for sharpshooting. Daniel Benzali is the final supporting player of note, who provides a great turn as a gruff and pragmatic agent tasked with protecting the President. Released in April of 1997, the R-rated film takes place during a weird period in American history when a character can mention e-mail, and then turn around and use a phone booth in the next scene. A sequence late in the picture when our heroes sneak into the White House through a hidden underground tunnel is quite suspenseful. Although it rather adeptly combines elements of political thrillers with crime procedurals, "Murder At 1600" still falls victims to the familiar tropes of both. The music from Christopher Young is at its best during the faster action scenes, which although few in number, are paced throughout the story at a good interval. Reviewing awful movies is always fun, and talking about excellent movies is easy... but discussing mediocre ones is much harder. It's tough to fault this picture, as it doesn't make any huge mistakes; but it doesn't really live-up to its unique premise either. Fans of Snipes or 90s action films will enjoy this one at least once, but otherwise, "Murder At 1600" is an unimpressive procedural presented with some interesting twists - I thought it was GOOD.
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