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ljones41 · 1 year ago

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"MURDER AT 1600" (1997) Review

"MURDER AT 1600" (1997) Review

Remember the action films from the 1980s and the 1990s? I do. Several days ago, I found myself thinking about them and realizing that the Hollywood industry rarely, if ever, made them anymore. I ended up searching my collection of old DVDs and found my copy of the 1997 action thriller called "MURDER AT 1600".

Directed by Dwight Little and starring Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane, "MURDER AT 1600" begins with the discovery of the dead body of a Presidential secretary named Carla Town inside one of the bathroom stalls at the White House. Much to the Secret Service's surprise, National Security Advisor Alvin Jordan requests that the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police investigate the murder. The police sends homicide Detective Harlan Regis and Detective Stengel to serve as the investigators. Secret Service Director Nick Spikings assigns Agent Nina Chance to serve as liaison between the Metropolitan Police and the U.S. Secret Service.

The murder inside the White House proves to be the latest scandal to mar President Jack Neil's administration. The President is also dealing with an international crisis in which thirteen American servicemen are being held hostage by the North Korean government. Although President Neil wants to resolve the situation without starting a war, many within his circle and the press wants him to send troops to rescue the hostages. While Neil deals with the crisis, Regis and Stengel's investigation leads to a major suspect - a White House janitor named Cory Allen Luchessi. However, Regis eventually realizes that Luchessi is innocent. He also manages to convince Agent Chance to help him find the real culprit, leading her to finding herself at odds with Spikings and her fellow Secret Service agents.

"MURDER AT 1600" is not some classic Hollywood action movie. It has never been regarded on the same level as the "DIE HARD" franchise or something like "BULLITT". I could see why during my recent re-watch. Like many action films from the late 20th century, "MURDER AT 1600" featured some cliched dialogue. On two separate occasions, a character mentioned details from the John F. Kennedy assassination. Why? What did the homicide of a secretary had to do with the assassination of president? Some people might regard its plot as a bit over-the-top. I mean . . . a Washington D.C. homicide detective investigating a murder committed inside the White House? I doubt very much such a thing would actually happen . . . or be allowed. And like many action films from the 1980s and 1990s, "MURDER AT 1600" has - thankfully - a small share of cheesy dialogue that became popular with the early DIE HARD movies.

I have not seen "MURDER AT 1600" in years. Before I had started this latest re-watch, I had assumed that my positive feelings for this film would change. And you know what? I was wrong. I ended up enjoying "MURDER AT 1600" even more than ever. Despite certain implausible aspects of the movie's narrative, I actually enjoyed the story. Thanks to screenwriters Wayne Beach and David Hodgin's script, "MURDER AT 1600" provided a well-executed combination of a mystery, an action thriller, and political intrigue. Regis's hobby of constructing tabletop miniatures of Civil War battles and sites played a role in the movie's final action sequence. I enjoyed how the film's scandals and political intrigue allowed Regis to comment on the toxic nature of Washington D.C. politics and intrigue. Regis's conflict with the Secret Service provided a character arc for Nina Chance, allowing her to choose between protecting the First Family's secrets on behalf of the agency and doing the right thing. Even the implausible aspects of the movie - Regis's appointment as investigator and mentions of the JFK assassination - ironically ended up serving the plot's political intrigue. Not long after Regis and his partner, Stengel, arrived at the White House, Spikings had expressed the implausibility of two local homicide detectives investigating a murder inside the White House - which is Federal property. As it turned out, Regis's appointment played a substantial role in the movie's political intrigue. And the comments on the JFK assassination served hints to what was really going on. My recent viewing of "MURDER AT 1600" reminded me that Beach and Hodgin's screenplay seemed to feature a great deal of red herrings, along with an interesting bait-and-switch plot point.

Lest we not forget, "MURDER AT 1600" is also an action thriller. And thanks to director Dwight Little, film editors Leslie Jones and Billy Weber, and Shane Cardwell's stunt team; the movie featured some very effective action sequences. But there were at least three action scenes that stood out for me. They include Agent Chance's theft of the murder victim's appointment book from the Secret Service's archives and her flight from the building, along with Regis and Chance's encounter with two assassins at a suspect's Maryland home. But the film's pièce de résistance proved to be the final action sequence that involved the pair and Stengel's infiltration of the White House via a tunnel, another deadly encounter with a government assassin, Regis' encounter with two Secret Service agents and his attempt to reach the President.

If there is one thing I can say about "MURDER AT 1600", it is a lovely movie to view. Cinematographer Steven Bernstein provided a visual feast of Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia locations, thanks to his sharp and colorful photography. Christopher Young's score served the movie well with its rich, yet mellow score that emphasized the narrative's political intrigue and murder mystery. Not only did Jones and Weber's editing serve the movie's action scenes very well, but also the movie in general. In fact, I honestly believe "MURDER AT 1600" was a well-paced film - not to fast, but at the same time, it did not drag.

I do not know what to say about the movie's performances. I had earlier stated that the movie had some cheesy dialogue that was prevalent in action movies thirty to forty years ago. I do not believe the dialogue was bad enough to sabotage the performances, thank goodness. But I cannot honestly recall a performance that stood out above the rest. All or most of the performances - aside from one in particular - struck me as pretty solid. More importantly, Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane both did great jobs in carrying the film. Frankly, either one of them could have done the job alone. But they managed to form a pretty damn good screen team. Both Dennis Miller and Diane Baker also gave solid performances, but I felt they had been somewhat underused in "MURDER AT 1600" - especially Baker, whose only lines were part of a speech at a fundraiser scene. And Miller seemed to be used mainly as the occasional comic relief. But that one performance that seemed off-kilter to me came from Charles Rocket, who had portrayed a recently fired government employee threatening to kill himself in the middle of a D.C. thoroughfare. I found his performance a bit over-the-top. Ironically and tragically, Rocket committed suicide some eight years later.

"MURDER AT 1600" has its shares of what I believe to be minor flaws - some contrived plot points and cheesy dialogue. But overall, I believe it is a more-than-solid action film and political thriller. I thought it held up very well after so many years, thanks to Wayne Beach and David Hodgin's screenplay, Dwight Little's direction and a solid cast led by Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane. It also led me to long for a return of the action films of the 1980s and 1990s - something I believe that is sorely needed.

#murder at 1600 #murder at 1600 1997 #dwight little #wesley snipes #diane lane #alan alda #daniel benzali #ronny cox #tate donovan #dennis miller #diane baker #washington politics #u.s. secret service #tom wright #charles rocket #harris yulin

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fandom-lover2 · 4 months ago

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Deep In The Woods, Something Lingers In The Trees

Before the virus, before the shelter, before the beginning of the end, a very ordinary girl met an extraordinary chimp. Friendship bloomed, and a love grew. This is their story

Chapter One - Epilogue

Word Count - 2254

Chapter Two - Stranger Not Like Me

It took 3 weeks for every continent to report cases.

It took 4 weeks for the origin of the virus to be traced to Genesys.

It took 6 weeks for people to realize how serious this virus was, when quarantine zones were established.

It took 10 weeks before the first billion deaths were confirmed.

It took 11 weeks for the first cities to confirm a loss of power, the beginning of the fall of civilization.

It took 12 weeks before the first riots to break out.

It took 13 weeks before the cities crumbled, the people destroying all in their paths in a desperation to survive.

It took 3 months for the world to come apart.

My parents died around the time the city centre was attacked, the military desperately trying to keep control of the population.

It took 3 days for San Franciso to fall. It took my parents 2 days to die.

I didn’t.

I was with them, breathing their air. Surrounded by their blood when it started pouring from their noses.

I held their hands as I tried to cool their fevers, stop the bleeding from their everywhere.

Once they passed, I tried phoning who I was supposed to to come fetch the bodies. The phones didn’t work, the streets silent.

I hadn’t seen Will or Caroline since the CDC had placed a quarantine sign on their door 2 weeks after the first case.

The first case, a scientist that had been exposed to the ALZ 113 gas while experimenting on a chimp.

The gas Caesar had used to make the other apes smart, like him.

Internationally, after the virus was traced back to apes, the world government called for the immediate extermination of apes world-wide. Zoos, sanctuaries, testing labs. They were all sentenced to die. Some had starting showing signs of intelligence, thought the people only saw it as “violent and erratic” behaviour, and had escaped already. Many didn’t, and they were shot like fish in a barrel.

3 months since the beginning of the end, and I was alone in my house with 2 dead bodies.

Will and Caroline were in there for 2 and a half months. They were dead.

Soon, people would find there was nothing else to salvage from the city and would move to the residential areas. I needed to leave.

It was sunset when they passed. I would wait for morning.

Go where, I had no idea. Maybe follow the rest of the people evacuating the city. Los Angelas was still under government control, maybe go there. Hide there.

It was near 3 am when I heard it, gunshots. Close, in our street. A few houses down. They were here, the raiders.

Moving swiftly, I fought tears as I packed my back pack. A change of clothes and a spare pair of socks. That was all I could take.

Rushing downstairs, I grabbed the last few cans of tinned food we had, what we’d managed to buy before the stores were looted and turned into ghost houses. Then, the first aid kit, reusable hydro flask, a fridge magnet picture of mom and I.

Then, I charged back upstairs and into their room. They were holding hands, eyes closed and dry blood pooled around their heads. I pressed a brief kiss to my mother’s forehead, uttering my apology that I had to leave them here and that I would always love her.

I went to my room one last time, looking around at my space. Books I wish I’d read lined shelves, and books I wished to take stood silently and worn. My stuffed animals lay around my room.

Would they be stolen, given to other children? Would they remain here, collecting dust until they fell apart?

Would someone new move in, love this house as I had. Find my photo album, see my mom and I grow up together alone? Hear our laughter down the halls once we were long gone? Or would everything remain like this, till the earth was destroyed by its own sun. A picture on my board caught my attention, and despite the hurry, I walked towards it.

Caesar and I, under the sheet we’d thrown over one of his ropes. It was just our silhouettes, the outline of a lamp on the floor between us.

Our hands were raised, making shadow puppets against the sheet.

It’d been years since Will had handed me a copy of the picture he managed to snap.

Caesar had grown so much since then, grown up and taken the apes with him across the Bridge.

Oh god I missed him.

Maybe one more memory can find space. I crossed my room and pulled the picture from its spot, folding it and slipping it into my jeans. With one last look around my room, I let a few tears slip free as I closed my door and rushed down the stairs for a final time.

Grabbing the car keys, I took a deep breath, then yanked the door open. The shouting was closer, and another shot rang out in the silence. Two cars were rushing down the street, families fleeing the inevitable. I leapt from the porch to the street, unlocking the car and slipping into the driver’s seat.

My back pack felt strange on my back as I tried to start the car, turn on the lights and get into gear. I was just about to pull off when something slammed onto the passenger window.

I looked over and froze. A man, gun aimed at me.

“Get out.” he growled.

I held my arms up in surrender.

Another man appeared at my side, tapping the glass with his gun.

I reached over slowly, unlocking the door. Once the click sounded, the man retched open the door and yanked me out, throwing me to the sidewalk. The first man moved around to our side, gun aimed at me.

“What do we do with her?”

“Take her with. She’ll be useful eventually.”

I jumped up and bolted across the street. Thank you 4 years of track. I was a lot faster than them.

Racing across the street, I repeated an action I had done daily for years, bounding up the familiar porch of Will’s place.

Not slowing, I used my speed to slam into the door, breaking through the quarantine planks they hammered on the doors. Once inside, I shut the door, locking it from inside, and braced my weight against it.

The men had reached me, and one tried opening the door.

“Leave her. Look, quarantine house.”

The second man scoffed. “She’s gonna be infected for sure now. Dead in days.”

I waited braced against the door long after I heard them walk off the porch and my stepfather’s car pull away from our house. Slowly, I slid down the door, finally breathing.

A gun fired somewhere done the street, followed by a scream. I ignored it, blocking my ears and clenching my jaw.

I stayed at the door, curled into myself until the house began to lighten, sunrise.

Standing on shaky legs, I dared venture into the house I considered my own more than the one I’d left. Everything was the same as the day I left it, the day Caesar was taken away.

I couldn’t find the strength to go back after Charles died. It felt like everything was broken the day Caesar left, and Charle’s absence made the place empty.

Now, I wanted one last chance to see this place before I left forever.

Downstairs was empty, so I crawled up the stairs. Charles’ room door was slightly ajar, his bedroom exactly as it was when he left. Will and Caroline’s was open too, empty. I wasn’t surprised.

After the connection between him and the virus was made, I met Will on the porch, asking what the hell had happened.

He looked worn, eyes bloodshot and sunken. He promised he was working on a cure. Caroline told me he wasn’t sleeping, spending days in his home office, desperately trying to find an end to what he’d caused. Now, I knew where I’d find him.

Creeping carefully, I ignored my pounding heart as I looked around the corner, into his office.

There, covering his desk and staining the floor, was dried blood. Blood dried for a while. The CDC must’ve fetched the bodies when I wasn’t looking out the window. I found some comfort in the knowledge that they weren’t just left here to be forgotten, which was weird considering that their fates were that they were burned in a mass grave. At least something happened to their bodies. My parents would just remain there, slowly left to rot away to skeletons.

Above me, something creaked. Foolishly, my heart leapt at the familiarity that it was an ape up there.

I rushed to the spiral staircase, charging up to the attic. Everything was as it was the day I left, besides a layer of dust that had settled over everything.

The swing, the ropes, his bed unmade. The piano was still open, a song waiting to be played on the stand. A halfway through chess game sat forever, never finished. God, I knew I was shit at chess before, but Caesar seemed to find joy in letting me think I was maybe about to win before swooping in and wiping out my entire fleet in 5 moves or less.

Oh god, how much I wish we could go back to that day. My knees went numb as I dropped to the floor, hands raising to cover my mouth as my throat closed and tears fell.

If I had done something different that day, would things have been different? If I had ignored him, stayed when he wanted me gone. then I would have been here that day, stopped him from… saved him from the centre.

No, that wouldn’t of changed anything. The new gas was being ready to be tested before that, the scientist was still going to be infected. The pilot would still get sick, and he would go on an international flight. The only thing that would’ve changed is I wouldn’t be remembering how this room had been filled with so much anger the last time I was in here.

God, why? Why was I alone? Why couldn’t he have just stayed inside and we could be facing the end of the world together.

Instead, all I had left was the memory of Caesar being carried away as the forest burned around us.

I still remembered that day so clearly, hearing the whispers in class that they were going to burn the Red Woods to eradicate the apes.

I’d left school, hailed a taxi with no money and gone straight to the Red Woods, desperate to stop the humans, warn Ceasar. I had gotten there too late, only able to wrestle a gun from one of the soldiers and shooting at the men shooting the troop.

Rocket appeared beside me, and we recognized one another. The scarred one was there to, helping lead apes away.

The fire around is roared, and the helicopters above prepared to shoot from the sky.

Then, the wind turned and they were forced to back off, blinded by the smoke.

The last time I saw any of the apes, they were going into the wind, away from the flames.

I had been in a lot of trouble when I’d called my parents telling them where I was. The whole ride home, I tried ignoring the fact I had shot 7 men, killing all of them.

I wondered if they even knew what had happened, if they were seeing people fleeing the city.

No one was stupid enough to go to the woods, fearing the apes.

No one would be there, and it’d be the perfect place to hide.

Leaving the last of my pain in the room, I left the house and began towards the Muir Woods. At first, I walked through our neighborhood alone, but soon cars filled the streets and families that were trying to make it on foot.

I walked for a day, and well into the night. Tryng to get across the Bridge was near impossible, the left over destruction from Caesar still causing it to be backed up. And the military were trying one last ditch at keeping the people contained.

Travelling alone, I could slip between the shouting groups, and continue onto the bridge. And then, where everyone turned left, giving the Woods a large birth, I forged ahead, into the trees.

First order of business would be shelter, somewhere close to water but deep enough into the woods that if people do get stupid enough, they won’t find me.

It was near sunrise though, I had gone over 24 hours without eating or sleeping. For now, a temporary resting spot would have to do.

I knew this forest, had spent hours with Caesar learning every trail, and often times going off the trail. I knew of the abandoned ranger’s cabin near the creek.

It would take only about an hour to reach on foot. Luckily, the fire had been deeper in the woods, and so when I finally stumbled into the clearing, the old wooden structure still stood.

Breaking a window, I shimmied my way inside. Too tired to do much else, I boarded up the broken window, found some old sacks to make into a bed, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the wooden floor.

#pota caesar x reader #pota x reader #pota caesar #caesar #pota will #pota charles #pota caroline #rise of the planet of the apes #planet of the apes #pota rocket #pota koba

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