I like surprises. Therefore, I like a good mystery thriller that keeps you guessing right up until the end. Gratefully, The General's Daughter very nearly does that. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, curves were thrown, complications ensued, and the ending was up for grabs again. When all was said and done, I was satisfied by an ending that was better than my expectations, even if my hunches weren't far off. When a thriller can do that, it has succeeded.
The General's Daughter teams John Travolta and Madeleine Stowe as military police detectives investigating the mysterious rape and murder of Captain Elizabeth Campbell, the title character played by Leslie Stefanson. After her naked body is found staked to the ground in an urban warfare range at Fort MacCallum, the evidence surrounding her death doesn't add up. Of course. Why does she have a hidden S&M lair in her basement; what secrets are revealed on the videotapes stolen from her house; how many men was she intimately involved with; what happened to her at West Point Academy? The search for the truth commences in earnest, army adages are bandied about, suspects abound, and cover-ups run rampant, but justice eventually prevails. In the case of films like this one, it's best not to give too much away and spoil the fun.
The film's acting is generally above-average, but no one is going to walk away with an Oscar nomination. John Travolta as Paul Brenner is again a likeable lead in a role that is no stretch from his previous performances. He keeps your attention with his sly wit without offering any surprises. Stowe, as Brenner's would-be sidekick Sarah Sunhill, is entirely under-utilized. You know she's just in the picture to provide some colorful banter with Travolta's Brenner, and to be the next woman-in-jeopardy. The general himself, played by the Babe farmer James Cromwell, is stoic and standoffish in a portrayal akin to his turn as the corrupt cop in L.A. Confidential. The best of the bunch is James Woods who plays the victim's mentor, friend, and potential murderer. His verbal sparring scenes with Travolta (reminiscent of his great scenes with Clint Eastwood in the otherwise tedious True Crime) provide some real acumen to a movie that might otherwise be relegated to your run-of-the-mill mystery.
Plenty of aerial shots of army locations including West Point are rendered magnificently and even patriotically as expected. This is not, however, a film that uses camera angles to invoke moods and create suspense as effectively as it could if the direction was in better hands. There is also a fair amount of gratuitous violence, particularly involving a rape scene where less would have been just as effective. However, the movie's other sexual scandal elements are gratefully not overplayed.
The story's unfortunate victim worked in the Army's psychological operations division, where she claimed they "mess with people's minds." One could have hoped that this movie might play with the audiences a bit more than it does--especially regarding the whole role of women in the military, a topic it seemingly wants to both address and avoid. Yet the story is an intriguing one that succeeds in sustaining interest at a leisurely pace. Neither a first-rate thriller nor a complete bomb. If the movie doesn't succeed in the box office, it's likely to have a strong shelf-life at your local video store.
Steven Stuart Baldwin (7/7/99)
