The General's Daughter (1999) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com Member: Online Film Critics Society
** out of four
"Elizabeth once told me she was conducting a field investigation in psychological warfare, and the enemy was Daddy."
Starring John Travolta, Madeline Stowe, James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton, Clarence Williams, James Woods, Leslie Stefanson. Rated R.
I despise filmmakers that use plot exclusively as a means of getting their movie exactly where they want it to go. Plot is a film's most important element and it should be respected; attempts to manipulate it for the sake of convenience will more than likely come back to haunt the movie. The General's Daughter, a self-serving and sloppy new murder mystery for John Travolta, is guilty as charged.
At the center of The General's Daughter is a mysterious rape and murder. The victim is Captain Elizabeth Campbell, the daughter of a newly retired military general (James Cromwell), which gives the case a high profile and a desire by many to keep it under tight wraps. Thus, Officer Paul Brenner (John Travolta), from the military's criminal investigation division and his new rape-expert partner Sara Sunhill (Madeline Stowe) are given 36 hours to investigate before the FBI comes in and any hopes of keeping things quiet are destroyed.
Sooner than later, Brenner finds out about Elizabeth's spooky "extra- curricular activities" such as an S&M fetish, complete with equipment and violent porno tapes in a secret room in the basement. Some evidence from the crime itself convinces his partner that this was no ordinary rape. They then embark on a mission to "Go behind the lies", as the movie's promotion immodestly trumpets and uncover the truth behind the murder of Captain Elizabeth Campbell.
The General's Daughter, bless its soul, keeps the relationship between Brenner and Sunhill completely platonic thereby avoiding the cliches that plague movies that feature romances between two law enforcement officials working together. Actually, I'm not even sure that the filmmakers could have inserted a romance into this film if they tried -- its 115 minutes are already full to the brim. Alas that may be part of the problem: there is sure a lot going on, but the story seems to have been hastily put together and is not thought out thoroughly enough to make so many plot elements blend together successfully. This is especially evident in the ending, when the film apparently tries to give us two separate explanations for what actually happened but never bothers to sort it all out. I'm still not sure whether the first solution we are given is merely an indirect approach to the second or whether we are supposed to believe that Brenner never fully succeeded in "going behind the lies".
Writer Christopher Bertolini and director Simon West (the man responsible for Con Air, the only movie I know with a 50 minute climax) are so concerned about the numerous details of the crime that they completely forget about the characters at its core. Brenner and Sunhill are little more than plot devices inserted to take us through the story. We are never presented with any reason to care about these people or what they do. Brenner is supposed to be a passionate man with a fierce determination for uncovering the truth but the movie never tries to make the character dynamic. How are we expected to give a damn about the story if we can't get involved with its protagonists?
But what angered me the most about The General's Daughter is how it winds up conveniently dispensing with anyone directly involved with the crime so it can focus solely on its final theme. The movie knows what it wants to say and is determined to say it even at the cost of sacrificing plausibility and plot resolution. It's like a bulldozer making its way to its final destination, blindly destroying everything in its path.
There is little in The General's Daughter to satisfy a viewer seeking thrills and absolutely nothing to appeal to anyone seeking a cinematically sound work. It's a movie that needs to go back to the drawing board. ©1999 Eugene Novikov‰
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