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����� I wasn't terribly interested in seeing this movie after I viewed the trailers.� It looked like a typical Scott brothers movie.� The idea of that turned me off.� By seeing the blips on the screen I could see that it was probably going to have a lot of action, decent story (but nothing wonderful), mediocre acting, and probably weak acting that relies on big explosions and chase scenes to save the movie.� However, I was convinced to shell out my money to watch the film after I heard how wonderful the novel had been.� This movie is based on Nelson DeMille's, The General's Daughter.� Since I had heard such good things about the book I figured that the movie might be ok.

��� Of course, most people know that movies are rarely as good as the books they're based on.� There are some exceptions, such as Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October.� Most stories are cut or twisted severely in some way in their transformation from novel to film.� The movies lack the capability to include the many details that a book can.� Therefore, when the cuts or changes to the story are made it leaves the movie confusing or choppy.� The General's Daughter is not an exception but the occurances are much further and far between than most novel-based movies.� I have not read the book so I can't go through all of the discrepencies but from what I understand the one that seems to stand out the most is the role that the Sherriff and his son play in the story.� Supposedly the role is much larger in the book than in the film.

��� However, this movie is fairly clean-cut and pretty easy to understand.� It does jump around a bit and get slow at times, but all in all it does a good job.� Since, I have not read the book, I do not know how the two compare in quality, but if we consider the movie by itself, it is very good.

��� I was most impressed by the acting and writing.� John Travolta continues to impress me in his versatility and depth as an actor.� He seemed to have a real grasp on his character and he was a pleasure to watch on screen.� He was aided by some tremendous one-liners and all around good writing.� He also was impressive when he and James Woods were on screen together.� Their tension and play off of each other was classic.� I say that their lines and acting made the movie.

��� Something I wasn't too impressed by was the need for Madeleine Stowe.� She plays a fairly dinky role and she seemed to be thrown into the story simply because the Hollywood big wigs think that they have to have a love interest in every movie in order for it to be good.� Well, watch this movie and you'll see that it's not true.� She wasn't needed.

��� Another problem is that the bad guy is easy to pick out from the onset.� That makes the movie semi-predictable.� The casting director made the mistake, as do a lot of movies, of casting a too well known person in such a small part i.e. Kiss the Girls.� However, even if you do figure out who I'm talking about you only have part of the story figured out.� So that mistake is tolerable.

��� I liked that this suspenseful movie wasn't overloaded with the big action sequences.� It had enough to keep you on the edge of your seat but not enough to overload the audience.� They weren't needed and I was happy to see that they weren't present.

��� The acting is good all around and the writing is terrific. � This movie is enjoyable.