THE AISLE SEAT - "THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER"
by Mike McGranaghan
In The General's Daughter, John Travolta plays a military detective assigned to investigate the brutal rape and murder of a young female Army captain. He arrives on the base to find the woman's naked corpse in a mysterious position. She looks familiar to him. Travolta's friend - an MP played by Timothy Hutton - reminds him that she is, in fact, the daughter of General Campbell (James Cromwell). The General orders Travolta and a rape counselor (Madeleine Stowe) to find the killer at any cost.
The search forces them to open a Pandora's box of Army secrets. Along the way, they encounter another officer (James Woods) who was the murdered woman's mentor. He knows more than he wishes he did, and there are some good exchanges between Woods and Travolta as the latter tries to pry information out of the former. The General's right-hand man (Clarence Williams III) also draws suspicion, especially in the way he keeps trying to foil Travolta's investigation.
First of all, let me say that it took me about five minutes to guess who the killer was. I spotted him the minute he walked on screen (the killer in these movies is always the character who serves no other purpose to the plot). To the film's credit, I had no idea what this person's motives were for killing the woman. There's some interesting psychology in the movie as it reveals what really happened (on the woman's part as well as on the murderer's), and that compensated somewhat for the predictability of the killer's identity.
Although The General's Daughter is entertaining in a melodramatic kind of way, it often pretends to be a much classier thriller than it really is. There's a portent of self-importance that runs through the film, right up to the final title sequence, which gives the audience a little lecture on women in the military. I think the story has delusions of grandeur - a mistaken notion that it is making a patriotic statement about a matter of national urgency. (The absurdly overwrought action finale also takes the wind out of that sail.)
In reality, it's just another military potboiler, albeit one that entertained me thanks to the aforementioned psychological aspect as well as the fine performances. Travolta adds yet another interesting role to his recent collection; he is angry, determined, confrontational, yet also funny (the screenplay allows him to drop some very witty one-liners as a sign of his character's disdain for the people around him). I also liked James Woods, who initially seems to be playing the prototypical "James Woods character" (sleazy tough guy) but eventually reveals another side. As for Clarence Williams III, I found myself unnerved by him every time he came on screen. About 3/4 of the way through, I realized why: not once during this entire movie does the actor blink. It's a subtle trick that creates an ominous feeling of dread.
For what it is, I liked The General's Daughter, albeit with some reservations. I think the portrayal of the young woman's rape was unnecessarily graphic. Director Simon West (Con Air) almost seems to get a kick out of depicting this horrible event with flashy camera angles and glitzy editing. The movie would have worked better with a less-is more approach. As it stands, The General's Daughter is a fairly compelling and amusing thriller with a great big sick spot right in the middle.
(
out of four)
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