Murder at 1600

First, you have Absolute Power in which the President is involved in a tryst that turns deadly. Now, in this by-the-numbers thriller, a woman is found murdered in a White House bathroom an hour after having sex in the Oval Office. You never saw these movie scenarios when George Bush was president. Wesley Snipes gives a characteristically impeccable performance as the homicide detective who finds himself in the line of fire after his investigation seemingly leads him to the First Family. Diane Lane has zero credibility as a CIA agent who defies her superiors to help him. And Alan Alda, as the National Security Advisor, has wallowed in the villain well once too often; it's time for him to go back to playing sensitive New Age guys. Not a necessary purchase. (K. Lee Benson)