The General's Daughter (1999)-"R"

Run Time:116 minutes

2 & 1/2 stars out of 4

The General's Daughter (1999) is a film that I am conflicted about. On one hand, it has intense and suspenseful scenes that keep you into the film, excited about it, and questioning what the next plot twist will be. But, on the other hand, it has a rather extreme marriage of sex with violence, which were troubling to me. Now, I believe that the point of this film was to promote or commend the status of women in the military, but also I can't help have the feeling that that was just an underlying good reason for incorporating the mixture of sex and violence into the film, the main reason being that it attracts viewers. This is certainly not a film for children, so parents, beware. Based on the book by Nelson Demille and directed by Simon West, it is only his second film, the first being the enormously popular, Con Air. In the film, John Travolta plays Paul Brenner, an army warrant officer with C.I.D., the army's Criminal Investigation Department. Brenner and a former lover of his, rape counselor and fellow C.I.D. warrant officer, Sara Sunhill (Madeleine Stowe), are called upon to solve the brutal rape and murder case of Captain Elizabeth Campbell, an officer in the army's Psychological Operations Bureau, as well as the daughter of the prominent politician and army officer, Lieutenant General Joseph Campbell. The search for Captain Campbell's murderer takes them on a bizarre, dangerous, and plot-twisting journey, that leads to the ultimate surprise at the end of the film. Now, I must admit that the film was engaging, and Travolta shone in his role, but I had a problem with the ending of the film, in that I didn't really understand the motive of the killer, despite the explanation. I don't want to give away the end of the film though, so I'll leave it at that. Overall, The General's Daughter (1999) was an exciting film with decent performances, but a heavy plot and an unclear ending. This is definitely not a light-hearted film.