|
THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER Send This Review to a Friend
If this film had been done in a low-key film noir style, there might have been hope for it. The atmosphere might have compensated for the convoluted plot. But director Simon West has pumped up this messy and unsavory story into a film that shouts at us continuously. The thunderous music pounds away as if to proclaim the urgency of every scene. When the substance is weak, the overkill is all the more annoying.
Shortly after the daughter of a general (Leslie Stefanson) is introduced to us an army base, she is found murdered--tied up, naked and spread-eagled on the ground. John Travolta as Paul Brenner, a military investigator, is tapped to find the killer, with Madeleine Stowe as Sarah Sunhill also assigned to the case. They provide the film with what charisma it has.
The screenplay, by Christopher Bertolini and William Goldman, based on Nelson DeMille's novel, leads us through a quagmire of intrigue and dangerous action. Suffice it to say that "The General's Daughter' is a throwback to the days when women were especially unwelcome in the military, but the film is exploitative rather than a blow for equality, with emphasis on kinky goings on at the base. James Cromwell plays the general; Timothy Hutton, Clarence Williams III and James Woods handle other key roles.
The movie company implores critics not to divulge the plot. But who would want to explain it all anyhow? A Paramount Pictures release.
|