Murder at the White House — again!

OK, those other White House murder yarns — "Absolute Power," "Shadow Conspiracy" — didn't have the nerve to actually place the bloody deed in the house, but "Murder at 1600" has a lot in common with those films. Including the fact that it's pretty awful.

"Murder at 1600" — that's 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., not 4 p.m. — stars Wesley Snipes as a hardened D.C. homicide detective who is called to the White House when a body is found in a rest room.

The female victim is a White House employee, but when Snipes arrives on the scene, he discovers that the feds have essentially locked him out. Scowling White House security chief Daniel Benzali (TV's "Murder One," the first season) has classified all the information gathered at the scene of the crime.

That doesn't stop Snipes, of course — he just links up with disgruntled Secret Service agent Diane Lane (the most unconvincing law enforcement official since Samantha Mathis in "Broken Arrow"). Lane is initially reluctant, of course, but when Benzali tries to frame a janitor for the murder, she decides steal some of that classified evidence for Snipes.

Naturally, the evidence doesn't pinpoint the killer — but it does widen the suspect list. Could the president's son, with his history of beating up women, be the killer? The president himself (Ronny Cox), perhaps? Maybe Secret Service honcho Benzali? Or National Security Adviser Alan Alda?

Actually, despite the red herrings and hollow leads, you'll probably figure it out fairly quickly. And when you do, you'll probably begin to notice that Dennis Miller, as Snipes' comic-relief partner, isn't in the movie nearly enough. A few more of his sharp barbs and "Murder at 1600" could have been a much more enjoyable ride.

Instead, the film just gets dumber as it goes along, as Snipes and Lane dodge White House assassins; Snipes' hobby of re-creating Washington, D.C., with models and toy soldiers figures in the finale; and ultimately, the president proves to be all too easily intimidated by one of his Cabinet members. (A subplot has the United States on the brink of war with North Korea.)

The film wildly overplays its hand in more ways than one, and the climax — as the bad guy is confronted — is utterly ludicrous.

Snipes, doing his tough-guy routine, tries hard to make things credible — but the script and direction let him down. And though Snipes and Miller make an enjoyable team, Snipes and Lane seem to be the team of choice.

As a result, C-Span is more entertaining.

"Murder at 1600" is rated R for violence, gore, sex, nudity and profanity.