Murder at 1600
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: April 18, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
The story, serviceable though it is, still shatters like eggshells under even the lightest scrutiny, and the dialogue is often stale beyond belief. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
As directed by Dwight Little ("Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home," a morph of "The Day of the Dolphin" and "Lassie Come Home"), the tension-to-action sequences unspool efficiently. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A lot of Murder at 1600 is well -done. Characters are introduced vividly,; there's a sense of realism in the White House scenes, and some of the dialogue by Wayne Beach and David Hodgin hits a nice ironic note. But then the movie kicks into auto - pilot. The last third of the film is a ready-made action movie plug-in. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
This latest entry in the White House genre is polished, but formulaic suspense. Read full review
60
EmpireKim Newman
Though it might charitably be described as "a load of old cods", there is a certain entertainment value to Murder At 1600. Read full review
60
Film ThreatTom Meek
Director Dwight Little does a solid job to keep things credible and moving, while the script makes an earnest effort to hide the true villain until the climax. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Starring Wesley Snipes as the suave Regis, Murder at 1600 is the modern equivalent of the routine B-picture, diverting in a small potatoes kind of way, though its budget and stars are big league. Read full review
60
VarietyEmanuel Levy
What makes the film involving and enjoyable in its first hour is a thick, multilayered plot, a rare sight in mainstream movies nowadays. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Wesley Snipes is terrific as the hero. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
There's hardly a single aspect of this motion picture that seems more than superficially credible, and if the United States government is really run in the Keystone Cops manner depicted in Wayne Beach and David Hodgin's script, then this country is in a great deal more trouble than anyone suspects. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Murder at 1600 has velocity and excitement, and that takes it a long way. It stars Wesley Snipes, which takes it a bit farther. And it's also lightweight, cliched and borderline ridiculous, which takes it back a few pegs. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
By the time you get to the end of the movie and our heroes and Regis' cop buddy Dennis Miller must sprint through a series of tunnels beneath the White House racing against evil to save the presidency, if your credulity hasn't been tested you'll probably find your heart racing pleasantly. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It desperately wants to be a paranoid political thriller, but this cobbled-together collection of corruption-on-Capitol Hill and cop movie cliches is so implausible that it's hard to care about any of the conspiratorial cover-ups and counter cover-ups. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyPaul Malcolm
The convoluted plot unfolds mechanically and with little atmosphere as if sex and death in the Oval Office would provide enough gravity on its own. That it doesn't is a sign of mediocre filmmaking as well as a measure of just how cynical the times have become. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Directed by Dwight Little of "Free Willy 2," and written by onetime high school classmates, Wayne Beach and David Hodgin (Mr. Hodgin died in 1995), Murder at 1600 eagerly invokes other films and stock images without showing much style of its own. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The best thing about Murder at 1600? Speed of exposition. Directed by Dwight Little, who made Steven Seagalís "Marked for Death," this thing whizzes from one unbelievable story point to the next. Your suspension of disbelief appreciates the momentum, if nothing else. Read full review
20
The A.V. ClubJohn Krewson
By violating the law of show-don't-tell, the already shaky Murder At 1600 is lost beyond hope of redemption. Read full review
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