A brutal murder, a political conspiracy and an international hostage crisis are just a few of the ingredients of this movie which was based on the novel "Murder In The White House" by Margaret Truman (the daughter of President Harry S Truman). This entertaining murder mystery contains plenty of drama, action and interesting characters and a police investigation that quickly reveals the presence of a number of suspects, a potential sex scandal involving the President and his son and a great deal of interference from the White House Chief of Security.
Washington Homicide Detective Harlan Regis (Wesley Snipes) is called in to investigate after the dead body of an attractive secretary is found in a White House toilet cubicle. Carla Town (Mary Moore) had been stabbed to death and when Regis visits the crime scene, he quickly runs into problems with Security Chief Nick Spikings (Daniel Benzali) who claims that the crime took place outside Regis' jurisdiction. Spikings orders Regis to be removed from the premises and this is only prevented by the intervention of National Security Adviser Alvin Jordan (Alan Alda).
Spikings assigns Secret Service Agent Nina Chance (Diane Lane) to work with Regis and keep him informed of any developments. Chance is an ex-Olympic gold medal winning sharpshooter who is unenthusiastic about her assignment and initially conducts herself in a rather formal manner. When information comes to light about President Jack Neil (Ronny Cox) and his son Kyle (Tate Donovan) possibly having had intimate relationships with Carla Town, they both become potential suspects.
Things start to get more sinister when the Secret Service set up a White House janitor to be the fall guy for the murder and then bug Regis' apartment. Nina Chance's conscience makes her uncomfortable with being involved in an innocent man being imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and it's this development that gradually makes her start to warm to the task of actually helping Regis' investigation rather than hindering it. The events that follow show that the crime under investigation was no ordinary murder and was in fact, part of a complex political conspiracy.
Wesley Snipes displays his character's humour, attitude and determination very convincingly as he continues to pursue his investigation despite all the obstructions that are put in his way and also shows the personal qualities of a guy who's been fascinated by history from a very early age. Diane Lane gives a solid performance as Nina Chance whose demeanour changes as she gradually becomes more suspicious about some things that are going on and gradually buys into what Regis is trying to achieve. The entire cast is top class in this movie but Alan Alda and Daniel Benzali really stand out in their supporting roles as two men who are not as straight-forward as they originally appeared to be.
"Murder At 1600" is well directed by Dwight H Little who successfully generates a great deal of tension at times (e.g. the sequence in which Chance goes into a storage room where some important records are archived) and the ways in which the characters develop as the story unfolds is also particularly enjoyable to watch. This movie's combination of intrigue and action is tremendously entertaining and together with the quality of Wesley Snipes' performance was, no doubt, the reason why it became so successful at the box office.
Washington Homicide Detective Harlan Regis (Wesley Snipes) is called in to investigate after the dead body of an attractive secretary is found in a White House toilet cubicle. Carla Town (Mary Moore) had been stabbed to death and when Regis visits the crime scene, he quickly runs into problems with Security Chief Nick Spikings (Daniel Benzali) who claims that the crime took place outside Regis' jurisdiction. Spikings orders Regis to be removed from the premises and this is only prevented by the intervention of National Security Adviser Alvin Jordan (Alan Alda).
Spikings assigns Secret Service Agent Nina Chance (Diane Lane) to work with Regis and keep him informed of any developments. Chance is an ex-Olympic gold medal winning sharpshooter who is unenthusiastic about her assignment and initially conducts herself in a rather formal manner. When information comes to light about President Jack Neil (Ronny Cox) and his son Kyle (Tate Donovan) possibly having had intimate relationships with Carla Town, they both become potential suspects.
Things start to get more sinister when the Secret Service set up a White House janitor to be the fall guy for the murder and then bug Regis' apartment. Nina Chance's conscience makes her uncomfortable with being involved in an innocent man being imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and it's this development that gradually makes her start to warm to the task of actually helping Regis' investigation rather than hindering it. The events that follow show that the crime under investigation was no ordinary murder and was in fact, part of a complex political conspiracy.
Wesley Snipes displays his character's humour, attitude and determination very convincingly as he continues to pursue his investigation despite all the obstructions that are put in his way and also shows the personal qualities of a guy who's been fascinated by history from a very early age. Diane Lane gives a solid performance as Nina Chance whose demeanour changes as she gradually becomes more suspicious about some things that are going on and gradually buys into what Regis is trying to achieve. The entire cast is top class in this movie but Alan Alda and Daniel Benzali really stand out in their supporting roles as two men who are not as straight-forward as they originally appeared to be.
"Murder At 1600" is well directed by Dwight H Little who successfully generates a great deal of tension at times (e.g. the sequence in which Chance goes into a storage room where some important records are archived) and the ways in which the characters develop as the story unfolds is also particularly enjoyable to watch. This movie's combination of intrigue and action is tremendously entertaining and together with the quality of Wesley Snipes' performance was, no doubt, the reason why it became so successful at the box office.