A few days ago, I watched The General’s Daughter starring John Travolta. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it’s based on a book by Nelson DeMille.
A private investigator in the U.S. army, Paul Brenner is sent down to an army base in Georgia to investigate some ongoing crimes. While he is there, a captain (who happens to be female) is found dead and bound on the shooting range. Another investigator, Sara Sunhill (Cynthia in the book apparently) is sent down to help Brenner solve the case. This case is made even more complicated when it’s made known that the captain is the daughter of a 5 star general, played by Oliver Cromwell.
Of course, as the story goes along, it’s revealed the captain had a rather interesting past. She enjoyed BDSM with several men in the army and during her time in West Point several years prior, she is bound and raped for doing better at West Point than the other men and later covered up. This logically makes Brenner assume that the person who murdered her was the same man who was there the first time.
I didn’t think I’d like this one, typically older movies haven’t aged well in appearances and storyline, making it harder for me to watch. Even though this one was older, I found the story to be fascinating. I had a hard time following the end and had to look it up online to make sure I got everything straight, but generally, I thought the movie was a good military thriller.
This movie shows a lot of complicated emotions: how a person can be patriotic towards their country and serviceman while criticizing those that serve with atrocities that aren’t always brought to light. How do you reconcile these two conflicting emotions? Overall, I’d give this movie between 4-5 stars.
Ashley French 