THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER
Rating: 2.0 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Simon West
Written by: William Goldman and Christopher Bertolini. Based on the Nelson DeMille novel.
Starring: John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Woods, James Cromwell, Leslie Stefanson
Synopsis: Military investigator Paul Brenner teams up with fellow investigator Sarah Sunhill (Madeleine Stowe) to solve the murder of Capt. Elisabeth Campbell (Leslie Stefanson), the daughter of political bigwig Gen. Joe Campbell (James Cromwell). Elisabeth's body was found in an odd position: in the middle of an army base, naked, and staked to the ground possibly voluntarily. Brenner and Sunhill soon discover that the deceased was some kind of nymphomaniac who had sex with nearly every man on base, so their list of possible suspects is long.
Opinion: THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER is a film that tries to be riveting and shocking but doesn't succeed because the film's details detract from the story line. For example, the Sheriff's son is said to be the main murder suspect. Yet we never see the guy: Sunhill and Brenner don't even bother to investigate him. Or when Sarah Sunhill first enters the picture as Brenner's investigative partner, we expect her to participate in the story as an equal cop-buddy-partner. Instead, she just stands around and serves no real purpose that Brenner can't accomplish without her. Travolta's character Paul Brenner is supposed to be an ace military detective, but he can't find a scrap of solid evidence linking the murderer to the act. In fact the murderer seems to volunteer a confession for no reason when he could have just as easily denied it. As a result of careless details THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER misses its mark as a psychological thriller.
Reviewed by David Sunga June 20, 1999
Copyright © 1999 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com
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