THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *
Sometimes it takes a while for a movie to reveal its true colors. THE
GENERAL'S DAUGHTER, on the other hand, has a telling moment quite early
in the story.
As Warrant Officer Paul Brenner, played in a cockily overacted
performance by John Travolta, investigates a horrific murder scene at an
army base, he stares at the naked female officer who has been staked
spread-eagle and then brutally strangled. Finding no evidence at the
crime scene, he looks up. Miracle of miracles, he manages to see
something flapping in the breeze way up on top of a building off to the
side. Quickly climbing to its roof, he fortuitously finds a bag of just
the kind of evidence he needs.
At this point you can already sense that the entire movie will be filled
with such balderdash. Don't be surprised if many members of your
audience find themselves laughing uncontrollably at all the wrong
moments in the movie's ridiculous plot. The film, which, sadly, is no
parody, has more plot holes that pot holes on an old country road. Try
to keep count of them as a way to pass the time.
The dead woman is a member of the base's psychological unit. Her
father, Lt. Gen. "Fighting Joe" Campbell, who is a week from retirement,
is mentioned as a possible vice-presidential candidate. He's also the
highly respected base commander. James Cromwell plays General Campbell
as a clone of the character he played in LA CONFIDENTIAL.
General Campbell instructs Paul to solve the case in 36 hours since,
after that, the FBI and the press will have to be told about it. The
script by Nelson DeMille, based on Christopher Bertolini's novel, is
filled with cliched, unnatural lines. "Let me be blunt," the general
tells Paul. "You are going to have to decide on this one, are you going
to be a soldier or a policeman? Which one are you?" Paul, with a
rock-solid chin, looks his superior straight in the eye. "I'm a
soldier, sir," he snaps back with unquestioning allegiance.
Now given that every room is lit for maximum atmospherics and given that
the editor has a propensity for constantly cutting to ominous choppers
circling overhead, do you think something sinister might be going on?
Do you think the general might be involved?
The strait-laced, dead officer turns out to have had a secret, or
perhaps not so secret, obsession for sadomasochistic sex, and she
conveniently left lots of videos. THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER quickly
degenerates to the sleazy level of the recent film 8MM. The most
repugnant part of the story is the way in which it exploits rape and
rape victims for lurid titillation.
Madeleine Stowe, playing Warrant Officer Sara Sunhill, a rape counselor
and investigator, joins Paul on the case. They have the typical
love/hate relationship of cop buddies.
Director Simon West (CON AIR) is much more concerned with dramatic
images than story telling. One time he has a cat go to the window and
rub his bloody paws on it to signify that his owner is dead. The
director has little regard for the intelligence of the audience. Every
move is so telegraphed in advance that the film contains little genuine
mystery.
Characters are so obviously either bad or good that the costume
department might as well have passed out black hats to one group and
white hats to the other. The killer, in particular, is quite easy to
spot.
Even the usually reliable James Woods doesn't lend any credibility or
interest to the film. He seems set on playing a parody of himself.
The soldiers on the base tarnish their reputations with their actions.
In the same way the actors disgrace themselves by being associated with
such a ridiculous movie. Most deliver decidedly subpar performances in
a movie that is already in trouble because of the script and direction.
Perhaps they will be lucky and the movie will leave the theaters before
anyone remembers it ever existed.
THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER runs 2:00. It is rated R for strong sex, rape,
sadomasochism, nudity, violence, and profanity. Since it pushes the
limit of the R rating, it should be considered acceptable only for the
oldest and most mature teenagers.
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Have I seen this movie: Yes
And what did I think: I feel like I've seen this film already,
since there are half a dozen other army cover-up murder films of
this type. There's nothing new here we haven't seen, its quite
predictable at times. I pretty much knew who was going to be
involved in the death of the General's daughter from the start.
The film stars John Travolta as Paul Brenner and Madeline Stowe
as Sara Sunhill, two warrant officers investigating the murder
of the daughter of a high ranking general (James Cromwell). The
movie is filled with the typical cliches and throws us a real
laughable situation when we learn more about the murder of this
girl. The dialougue here is weak at times and the movie often
loses direction. It seems that the director didn't quite know
what he wanted at times. What saves the movie from total
disaster is John Travolta's role here. While not quite on par
with other films of his like Pulp Fiction, Broken Arrow or A
Civil Action, he's quite good here and appears tough but also
sensitive. However, Madeline Stowe appears rather stiff here and
there isn't much chemistry between her and Travolta. The
supporting cast isn't anything special except James Cromwell and
James Woods are minimimally good here. If you don't mind a film
that is full of plot holes, but with some good scenes every now
and then, then you won't mind this too bad. It definately wasn't
worth the $8 when it was in the theaters, but it won't be a
total loss if you decide to rent it. Better yet though, wait for
it to come onto cable.
I give The General's Daughter 2 out of 5 stars.
Review written January 12, 2000
