The General's Daughter

... that's a central question in this movie. She's been murdered and the key seems to lie in the past. She's the daughter of a prominent general who's on the fast track to a political career - so resolving the case is a big deal. Travolta and Stowe play the military investigators of the case.

This is an entertaining movie to watch - mostly because John Travolta is really interesting in his role. His character is fast-thinking, intelligent, focused and probing. The character dialog is really good too. James Woods is also fun to watch as a non-cooperative psi-ops officer.

The story is pretty faced paced and anyone who likes CSI-types shows, or just plain mystery-type movies should be pleased with this one.

A beautiful army officer is murdered in compromising circumstances that the fort MacCallum officials would rather keep quite. John Travolta and Madeleine Stowe are the investigators into the murder, and it's seems that someone wants to keep the truth hidden.

Travolta and Stowe both capture the necessary elements of their characters and they are well supported by James Cromwell, Timothy Hutton, Clarence Williams II and James Woods.

This suspenseful mystery thriller delivers the disturbing truths of the story very well, it does have its flaws, but they are largely forgivable due to the captivating delivery and direction.

7/10

I can't believe this movie is rated only 6.3 on IMDb. In the mystery and crime genre alone I would personally rate it at same level as as Vertigo and Pscycho. It's direction, acting and plot are all top notch, cutting deep in your mind and psych. This is one of those movies that draws viewers in and doesn't leave them even after it ends. Some people say that its end is a little hammy, but by the time it reaches there, the movie has already done a stellar work. In my opinion it is also one of the best acting performances by John Travolta. And the supporting ensemble is equally good. This is one of them movies that deserves to be part of every collection.

I have developed a large DVD library over the years, some 1,000 today! There are only a few which I will see more than once or twice. And The General's Daughter is one I keep seeing with pleasure. You will have read many reviews, scattering ratings from 1 to 10, as usual, but with a poor average rate. I personally like the movie for its excellent tempo and accompanying music. Travolta, Cromwell and Stowe fit their respective role perfectly. The global integration of filming, dialogs, acting and plot come out exactly right. So of course I try to understand why the rating is so poor. I have read criticism regarding the poor adaptation from the book, the way the army is depicted so unjustly, the average performance of Travolta and his annoying southern accent and more. Well, we have the right to our choices and own judgment. On a closing note, I wish people would stop repeating the plot in their reviews: it's boring, redundant and does not provide a bit of film analysis.

THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER is movie that has been done before. But it knows this and is able to look past it's cliché's and have fun with the genre. A cop(Travolta) is called to an army base to investigate the death of a general's daughter after she has been raped and beat to death and left naked and tied to the ground with tent stakes. It's a ghastly sight and everyone wants him to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. The problem is that EVERYONE has something to hide or is hiding someone who has something to hide. This has an all-star cast and they are terrific. The story is well written and the cast has some fun with it along the way. Director Simon West knows how to tell the story with a slight tongue and cheek flavor and still maintain the very serious nature of the subject matter. The action sequences are very well choreographed and the climax is pretty intense. So if you are looking for a familiar but really good, intense, and exciting action murder mystery THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER is well worth seeing. No matter if the critics thumbed their elitist nose's at it. They're loss is our average Joe's gain. ***1/2 out of 4.