The General's Daughter Review

by Akiva Gottlieb (akiva AT excite DOT com)
June 22nd, 1999
The General's Daughter **1/2

rated R
Paramount Pictures
starring John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton, Clarence Williams III, James Woods, Leslie Stefanson based on the novel by Nelson DeMille
written by Christopher Bertolini and William Goldman directed by Simon West

The topic of debate in "The General's Daughter", a conventional thriller from Simon West, is whether there is a place for women in the army. The problem, though, is that the ending fails to present a clear-cut opinion on the matter. And from watching the film, we don't have anything to base out opinions on either. "The General's Daughter" stars John Travolta as an undercover detective who, with a special agent played by Madeleine Stowe, is investigating the rape and murder of Capt. Elizabeth Campbell(Leslie Stefanson), daughter of General Joe Campbell(James Cromwell). What the two end up finding is a slew of cover-ups involving some "extracurricular activities". The script is awful, but things remain interesting because of a touchy subject matter, and also because of a fine performance by James Woods as a murder suspect. The most I can say is that it's better than Simon West's last feature, which was the embarrassing "Con Air". John Travolta needs a more eclectic role and Madeleine Stowe should use her tenacity to her advantage. "The General's Daughter" is a so-so thriller without much originality.

a capsule review by Akiva Gottlieb, The Teenage Movie Critic [email protected]
http://teenagemoviecritic.8m.com

_______________________________________________________
Get your free, private email at http://mail.excite.com/

More on 'The General's Daughter'...

---

Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.