Murder at 1600 (1997): C-

1997 was a bad cinematic year for the President, who was implicated in two different films as the prime suspect in the murder of a pretty young blond. And though Clint Eastwood’s Absolute Power was a star-studded dud, it was still leaps and bounds better than Murder at 1600, a thoroughly ridiculous Wesley Snipes vehicle in which the star takes two hours to solve a mystery that’s about as mysterious as a loaf of bread. Forced to work with a buttoned-down secret service agent (Diane Lane, with a horrible hairdo), Snipes’ D.C. detective Regis – a supercop who knows kung-fu, sneaks around air shafts like a spy, and spends his spare time building elaborate models of historic American history battles – is assigned to investigate the appearance of a corpse in a White House bathroom. Yet he soon runs into problems courtesy of idiotic administration bigwig Spikings (the monotonous and un-menacing Daniel Benzali), who doesn’t take kindly to local fuzz snooping around the President’s home. Anyone who’s seen more than five thrillers in their life will easily spot the real culprit (hint: it’s the seemingly pointless character played by a well-known actor), and the acting – due in part to Wayne Beach and David Hodgin’s one-liner-filled script – is across-the-board awful. However, there’s no denying the unintentional comedy derived from watching a campy Snipes pall around with the miscast Dennis Miller as his lame but loyal police sidekick.