When John Travolta first opens his mouth during the opening credits ofThe General's Daughterand speaks in a terrible Southern cracker drawl, one briefly hopes that the movie will turn out to be just as hilariously bad. Unfortunately, the accent is soon revealed to be part of a disguise, and the movie is just as quickly unveiled as a clumsy, run-of-the-mill potboiler. A female officer is discovered strangled and tied to the ground; she's the title character, and because of the general's political ambitions, the mystery of who did it and why has to be wrapped up in 36 hours by Travolta and fellow CID officer Madeleine Stowe (Last of the Mohicans,12 Monkeys). Sexual violence and lurid S&M have been thrown in to shore up the incomprehensible plot, but that only adds to the queasy atmosphere. The supporting actors--an impressive collection including James Woods (Salvador), Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People), and James Cromwell (Babe,L.A. Confidential)--don't embarrass themselves, but even they can't make sense of their blustering, macho dialogue. It's amazing that screenwriter William Goldman (who wrote such great and genuinely thrilling films asButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,Marathon Man,All the President's Men, andMisery) left his name attached to this script; there's no sign of his usual skill and intelligence. Madeleine Stowe, a graceful presence in any film, is equally wasted. Directed with a lot of empty flash by Simon West (Con Air).--Bret Fetzer
Quite a good film that closely tracks the excellent novel The General's Daughter is a powerful film about conspiracy, lust, and above all, betrayal. It tracks the excellent Nelson DeMille novel of the same name fairly closely, and tells a compelling story that engages the viewer. John Travolta, in particular, does a stellar job as CID agent Paul Brenner. Madeleine Stowe is perfect as Sara Sunhill. The rest of the cast turn in excellent performances as well, with the possible exception of James Cromwell, of whom I am not a fan.
Some critics (and some reviewers) panned this movie, which I do not understand. At least this one has a plot, a storyline, and moves things along. Many of the overlong, tedious productions that Hollywood and its foreign rivals have been belching out for the past 20 years do none of these things. This one has no long dreary interludes, and every scene is relevant to the story. The main flaw in this film, in fact, is its downbeat tone. This is not a happy story, and the film utterly fails to inject any lightheartedness into the storyline, which is something DeMille did very successfully in the novel, by the way.
The soundtrack of this film is quite good. It is one of those soundtracks that significantly adds to the drama of the film.
Highly recommended.
Travolta at his best Very gripping from begining to the very end. This is John Travolta at his best.John Travolta does it again John Travolta is such a GREAT actor and I enjoy many of his movies!!!! General's Daughter being 1 of my favorite I will be watching a lot....
