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| General's Daughter, The |
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 (10/10)
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Runtime: 117 |
| Public Rating: 5.87 (15 votes) |
Director: Simon West |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Drama/Mystery/Thriller |
Year: 1999 |
| Writer(s): Nelson DeMille (novel), William Goldman, Christopher Bertolini |
| Distributor: 1 |
| Reviewed by: Arturo García Lasca |
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Once I was telling a teacher of mine about a book I had read, I was talking about how great it was, and the things it made me feel, such as sadness, lots of it, when one of the characters died. My teacher told me that's when you know if a book is truly good; I'll never forget that, and I've realized I had always applied the same rule to films. That's one of the main reasons I have to include "The General's Daughter" in the list of my favourite films.
John Travolta plays Paul Brenner, an Army cop assigned to a pretty strange case occured inside an Army base. Captain Elisabeth Campbell (Leslie Stefanson) was found dead on the ground, naked, with her arms and legs tied and nailed to the floor, apparently strangled. She happens to be General Joseph Campbell's (James Cromwell) daughter; General Campbell has had a brilliant career, he is about to retire and considering entering the political world. Brenner has to work with Sarah Sunhill (Madeleine Stowe), a rape investigator. From the base they're receiving the help of Colonel Kent (Timothy Hutton), and everyone is a potential suspect, including Elisabeth's boss at Psy Ops (Psycological Operations, where she worked), Colonel Robert Moore (James Woods), who claims to have been a very close friend.
I think this movie was incredibly well made. It might now have served it's purpose very well as a thriller, since it was never too suspensful and/or mysterious; Don't get me wrong, it does have some twists and surprises. But the film is more than that, it expressed it's meaning in a unique way that made me feel a lot of hate, compassion and desperation at certain points. Not many films can do that. This was achieved by a fantastic directirial work by Simon West; while some may consider a few scenes to be too graphical, I think they were graphical for a reason, to make you realize how much suffering the characters went through.
In several scenes there are some flashbacks that couldn't have been better, they were almost perfectly timed, they were put in the right place and told in the right way. But what helped the most in the making of this incredible movie is the music. The music is just perfect. Those themes played in every different circumstances fit perfectly with the ocations, I think the people in charge of that department did an excellent job, the music was really making every scene deeper and more meaningful.
The acting was superb, every single member of the cast convinced me that they're all true actors. After watching this film, and others like "Primary Colors", it's unbelievable there are still people who think John Travolta is not a good actor. Madeleine Stowe, James Cromwell, James Woods and the rest of the cast also gave fantastic performances, they're all excellent actors, and if they're not.. they hid it pretty well in this film.
The funnies thing of all is the fact that until today I didn't really think this movie was so good, I had already seen it and thought it was good, just plain good, but after watching it again just a couple of hours before this writing came up, I'm convinced this movie is just great. I'd recommend it to anyone, I promise you wont be disappointed.
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