I don't think that Ronny Cox would be a president I'd vote for, but he's obviously cast because of a slight resemblance to George H. W. Bush, cast with a more believable Diane Baker as the first lady and Tate Donovan as the always in trouble son. When a young woman is found brutally murdered in the White House, Donovan is suspect #1, and the security team (led by the cold Alan Alda and assisted by an even frontier, and downright creepy Daniel Benzali), detective Wesley Snipes gets assistance from secret service agent Diane Lane which leads to all sorts of blocked paths from her supervisors and suspicions from something larger.
Great performances by Snipes and Lane are aided by interesting details concerning each of their characters with Snipes a history buff and sharing evidence of his research with Lane. She's tough as she stands up to Benzali who touches her eerily and would make a snake shiver in fear of his sliminess. This asks all sorts of pertinent questions about the rights of protection for world leaders and their families when something immoral has been done, and there's never certainly throughout as to Donovan's guilt or innocence.
There's also the ethical questions regarding the abuse of power especially when amoral activities by public serving agencies try to not only hide the truth but twist it. A subplot involving American hostages in Korea is something to pay close attention to. It's a better thriller than I remembered it to be although the connect the dots structure is pretty derivative of mysteries like this. Probably more timely 25 years later than it was at the time and that's obviously what made it seem fresher for me.
Great performances by Snipes and Lane are aided by interesting details concerning each of their characters with Snipes a history buff and sharing evidence of his research with Lane. She's tough as she stands up to Benzali who touches her eerily and would make a snake shiver in fear of his sliminess. This asks all sorts of pertinent questions about the rights of protection for world leaders and their families when something immoral has been done, and there's never certainly throughout as to Donovan's guilt or innocence.
There's also the ethical questions regarding the abuse of power especially when amoral activities by public serving agencies try to not only hide the truth but twist it. A subplot involving American hostages in Korea is something to pay close attention to. It's a better thriller than I remembered it to be although the connect the dots structure is pretty derivative of mysteries like this. Probably more timely 25 years later than it was at the time and that's obviously what made it seem fresher for me.