
DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997              TAG: 9704240040

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   75 lines

IT TAKES MORE THAN MISBEHAVIOR AT WHITE HOUSE TO SHOCK US NOW

SCANDAL? IN THE White House?

We're shocked. Absolutely shocked!

In the opening scene of ``Murder at 1600,'' a 25-year-old blonde babe is seen having sex with an unidentified man on the floor of a bathroom at the White House. She ends up dead. Wesley Snipes, a homicide detective of the Washington, D.C., police department, gets the call and the rest is strictly routine whodunit melodrama time.

The shocking thing, in fact, is that we're not shocked and that it is questionable that a movie critic can even make a plausible case that a routine programmer like ``Murder at 1600'' is far-fetched. With a daily dose of fund-raising scandals, Whitewater investigations, a president facing a civil case involving sexual harassment, the suicide of a White House aide and mysteriously missing documents, who can indict mere Hollywood screenwriters for going too far?

``Murder at 1600'' is but another regrettable example that faith in democracy is eroding - to the degree that it's acceptable in the movie theater.

The ways of corporate Hollywood, where the average movie now involves an investment of some $30 million, are fickle. Last year, before the election, we had movie presidents who were persistently young and bright-faced (as in the romance ``The American President''). No sooner were the ballots cast than more cynical scripts began getting the green light - ``Absolute Power,'' ``Shadow Conspiracy.''

``Murder at 1600'' tries valiantly to keep us intrigued with a growing list of suspects, but the casting itself defeats the ruses. It doesn't take a sleuth as intense as Harlan Regis, as played with great charisma and intensity by Snipes, to figure it out.

On screen, there are enough details to make the situation mildly interesting. The prime suspect is the president's womanizing son (Tate Donovan). A hostage crisis brews in North Korea and the likable, misty-eyed president (Ronny Cox) is being attacked by hawks who urge him to send in the troops. His ratings plummet, aided by the fact that he never served in the military. He and the first lady (Diane Baker) were reportedly at Camp David at the time of the murder but are later found to have been on the premises.

A more intriguing angle, not fully utilized by the script, is the conflict over who has jurisdiction over a murder in the White House. Since Washington has more than 30 policing agencies ranging from Capitol Hill police to park police, Secret Service and the CIA, the power conflicts are evident. In this version, White House protectors are portrayed as murky villains.

The film is greatly aided by Snipes' total commitment. This investigator is no Columbo. No jokes. Because he takes it so seriously, we are almost persuaded to go along. Diane Lane, who is cast as a Secret Service agent, has matured into a much better actress than anyone would have suspected. She has a tough assignment, though, in making her character - Nina Chance, an Olympic Gold Medal winner in sharpshooting - believable.

Eventually, the film sinks to no more than a series of routine chases and shootouts.

For a truly involving example of political drama, you'd be advised to rent 1964's ``Seven Days in May,'' starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. It has the details to get us truly concerned. Besides, it came from an era when it took a good deal more to shock us. ILLUSTRATION: GAIL HARVEY

Detectives Sengel and Regis (Dennis Miller and Wesley Snipes) and

Secret Service agent Nina Chance (Diane Lane) star in the

suspense-thriller ``Murder at 1600.''

MOVIE REVIEW

``Murder at 1600''

Cast: Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane, Alan Alda, Ronny Cox, Dennis

Miller, Tate Donovan, Diane Baker

Director: Dwight Little

Screenplay: Wayne Beach and David Hodgin

MPAA rating: R (sexuality, violence, some language)

Mal's rating: **