Murder At 1600 (DVD)

After a woman is discovered murdered in the toilets at the White House, tough talking Washington police detective Harlan Regis (Wesley Snipes) is assigned to the case. Struggling to break through the barriers placed in his way by the White House's head of the Secret Service, Spikings (Daniel Benzali), Regis finds his every move shadowed by one of his agents, Nina Chance (Diane Lane). But when a White House cleaner is suddenly charged with the murder, ...
...cover a much darker truth.

For a film which is such a stereotypical/ paint it by numbers cop thriller, I really like "Murder at 1600". Nearly everything about the film is completely predictable from the hard nosed cop, to the Secret Service shadow; even the scenes could have been picked out of any other film from this genre and placed in order to make this film. The one resounding fact that makes this film rise from predictable ... more

After a woman is discovered murdered in the toilets at the White House, tough talking Washington police detective Harlan Regis (Wesley Snipes) is assigned to the case. Struggling to break through the barriers placed in his way by the White House's head of the Secret Service, Spikings (Daniel Benzali), Regis finds his every move shadowed by one of his agents, Nina Chance (Diane Lane). But when a White House cleaner is suddenly charged with the murder, Regis believes an innocent man is being set up to cover a much darker truth.

For a film which is such a stereotypical/ paint it by numbers cop thriller, I really like "Murder at 1600". Nearly everything about the film is completely predictable from the hard nosed cop, to the Secret Service shadow; even the scenes could have been picked out of any other film from this genre and placed in order to make this film. The one resounding fact that makes this film rise from predictable mediocrity is that although in time honoured tradition of having a twist, this one is pretty unpredictable.

As I have already mentioned, "Murder at 1600" is predictable and uses the standard cop looking for a killer whilst putting his own life in danger type storyline. Even placing the action in the White House is not overly original, but does add the enjoyable twist that maybe the Presidnet may be a killer. Although it is predictable, each scene is pretty good, with the opening sequence establishing our hero as a hard nosed cop who is willing to push the boundaries, yes this has been done in films such as "lethal Weapon". Plus the initial contempt between our hero and his Secret Service shadow works well as they learn to work as a team.

Unlike many films in this genre, "Murder at 1600" despite it's predictability is a very well made film, with the main characters being solidly introduced and although at times the action may seem a bit far-fetched, it works well. What is also nice is that t keeps the storyline very tight, giving you reasons behind actions instead of leaving you wondering why they did that. Plus it doesn't leave you to dwell on anything for longer than is absolutely necessary as the acion and the storyline move along at a perfect pace.

The main star of the film is Wesley Snipes as detective Harlan Regis. Although a completely stereotypical movie detective with his no nonsense approach, and slightly strange personal life, he constructs scale models of famous battles, Snipes does a great job of bringing him to life and making him interesting. It is no surprise that Regis comes over as quite a cool character as this is what Snipes does so well.

Opposite Snipes we have Diane Lane as Nina Chance, the secret service shadow who ends up becoming more of a partner than a hinderance. Again this is a very sereotypical character as she starts off as the nearly robotic agent, obeying every command from her superiors with out questioning why, but then the human side of her comes through as she begins to question whether her bosses may be behind the murder. To be honest Lane brings nothing new to the character, but her pairing with Snipes works remarkably well.

In cop thriller tradition, Regis does have a detective partner in the shape of Dennis Miller who is hugely underused and is basically there until the partnership between Regis and Chance lifts off. Also hugely underused are Daniel Benzali as the head of the Secret Service and the huely talented Alan Alda as the President's National Security Adviser, both very fine actors who given the chance could have added so much more depth to their characters and the filmin general.

"Murder at 1600" is directed by Dwight H. Little who really has stayed tight to the line and made a play it by numbers movie, but as they say "If it ain't broke, why fix it". Despite the formulaic approach, Little has done a good job of delivering a movie with the perfect balance of action and drama, and unlike other movies in this genre, this one is actually thrilling. Yes, I may be somewhat predictable and very cliché right down to the dialogue and run of the mill soundtrack, but Little has made it very engrossing and having watched it on numerous occassions, it still manages to gain my full attention.

Having read this review you would not be wrong to think that this is just another predictable movie in an already over packed genre of look-a-likey movies. But in an era where cinema has hit an all time low with dull, unoriginal remakes and copies, at least "Murder at 1600" manages to remain entertaining and enthralling. A combination of a decent twist and a very good performance from Wesley Snipes lifts this above the usual drivel, which generally fills this genre. It will never be termed as a classic and may be very formulaic in its approach but it is thrilling for all the right reasons.

DVD - Bonus Features & Quality

To be honest this is very disappointing as all we get are some onscreen production notes and cast bios. The production notes do contain some interesting facts but on the whole are pretty boring. What is quite nice is the fact the film comes in two formats, as the disc is in fact dual sided. So on one side we have the widescreen presentation whilst on the other we get the pan and scan version for those who do not like the letterbox effect of widescreen.

As with most modern DVDs, the picture quality is impecable with very good contrast and sharpness. What is especialy noticeable in the vibrancy of the colours which helps the film come to life. As with the picture, the sound quality is what youwould expect from a modern movie. All the sound channels are brilliantly used with the majority of the dialogue coming from the central speaker. Although not the most dynamic of soundtracks it does feel quite powerful as the action sequences do fill the room, again helping to bring the film to life.

The DVD package is less than spectacular with a very lack luster set of extras. The choice of watching in widescreen or pan and scan is a nice touch, but does not make up for the lack of features. The picture and sound quality is what you would expect, nothing special but clean and clear in both areas.

Price & Availability

Amazon.co.uk: £5.97

Technical Details

Certificate: 15
Duration: 107 mins
Year of Release: 1997
Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime, Drama

DVD Release: 1999
Subtitles: Arabic, English
Audio: English
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 , pan & scan
Region: 2

Director(s): Dwight H. Little
Writer(s): Wayne Beach, David Hodgin

Cast: Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Daniel Benzali, Dennis Miller, Alan Alda, Ronny Cox, Diane Baker, Tate Donovan, Harris Yulin, Tom Wright

© Christianfilmcritc April 2008 

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