Touches You

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

I can't do The General's Daughter (1999) enough justice. It's an excelent police thriller flick. If you're up to those kinds of movies, you won't regret it. When I say "up to those kinds of movies", I mean those movies where there's no high action scenes or anything, is all about the plot, the acting and what's going on; and that lovely question you ask yourself on any great police thriller: "who did it and why?"

John Travolta is an actor with a lot of charisma and likability, and here he tries his best, giving a good, solid performance but even he can't save the plotting which is predictable, clichéd and rather ridiculous. The story is as follows, a female commander is murdered, and detective Paul Brenner must find out the culprit within a certain amount of time, as the event will turn into a media circus as soon as the FBI arrive. He is helped by Rape investigator Sara Sunhill played by Madeleine Stowe, she also has personality and possesses some good chemistry with Travolta as well as a sense of humour and gives a well-grounded performance. James Woods play's an Army officer, high in command, James Cromwell play's General Joseph Campbell and Timothy Hutton play's Colonel William Kent to name a few, the picture is well acted for the most part.The direction from Simon West is pretty good and it's well shot, and appropriately set, revolving around an army base, and the best choice was leaving the press out of it, as they would have clogged up the screen. However there is some questionable dialogue and writing, as well as plot inconsistencies and some really silly moments, but for me the main problem that stopped me from actually liking the picture was the twist before the conclusion, which felt tacked on and void of any sense, and the very end is comprised of predictability, as I saw a certain person's involvement within the murder about half way through, knowing he was guilty by his mannerism's. Overall The General's Daughter is well paced, and competently acted but it suffers from questionable flaws in logic, too many clichés and a ridiculous plot twist that's simply disappointing and senseless.

1999's "The General's Daughter" takes place at and around a coastal Georgia military base. John Travolta plays an Army investigator who teams up with Madeleine Stowe, a woman he once had an affair with (yeah right), to solve the ugly murder of the daughter of the commanding officer, herself a captain.Whether you like Travolta or not, there's no denying his star power. He easily carries this film as the protagonist from beginning to end. The real cast highlight for me, however, is the stunning Madeleine Stowe (remember her from 1992's excellent "Last of the Mohicans"?). Throughout most of the film Madeleine wears a white sleeveless shirt and form-fitting tan-ish slacks; she's just spellbinding. The film is rated R and for good reason. There are numerous scenes of a naked woman staked out spread-eagled, both alive and dead. Besides murder, the picture features overt elements of S & M and gang rape. This may turn some potential viewers away, but the film is worth sticking with if you can brace yourself for the sordid aspects. How so? Because "The General's Daughter" powerfully shows that sexual abuse must be addressed and not shoved under the rug. Inner wounds must be properly bound and healed, not dismissed with a casual shrug.My wife and I recently saw a fascinating documentary on prostitutes. I never could understand how a woman could have sexual relations (especially oral sex) with some dirty, smelly sleazebag for money. It's gag-inducing to me. With one exception every prostitute interviewed confessed to being sexually abused while growing up. The abuse was never properly addressed and, consequently, no real inner-healing could take place. The abuse literally damned the women to a sordid life of self-loathing and self-destruction. My heart goes out to them! The sleazy sexual elements are so in-your-face in "The General's Daughter" that it's hard to look past it to the meat of the story. The unaddressed sexual abuse of the General's daughter leads to a promiscuous and deviant lifestyle, resulting -- of course -- in misery and (ultimately) destruction.Travolta's character briefly knew the general's daughter before her murder. What compels him to solve the murder and enact justice & vengeance on the direct and indirect perpetrators (aside from the fact that it's his job) is that he clearly saw a genuine gleam of beauty and life in her. Reviewer Steven Quan understandably objects that, if she was as horribly abused as depicted in the story, she wouldn't be so vibrant and perky. But, nevertheless, this vibrancy and inner beauty is authentic. Travolta knows it because he experienced it. It's a glimpse of who she really was or could be, a glimmer of her potential as a woman and a human being. True, most of it may merely be a public veneer, an act she hides behind, but the flimsy root is REAL. Unfortunately it's overshadowed by her raw torment within, inner pain so great that it compels her to ridiculously radical actions.When Travolta finally figures out what and who destroyed the inner beauty and potential of this young woman his righteous anger is potent and palpable.I heard the story was loosely based on real-life events, but can't verify it.The picture was filmed on location in coastal Georgia, around Savannah. There's also a breathtaking shot of West Point, NY, where a small portion of the story takes place.CONCLUSION: "The General's Daughter" is more than just a meaningless detective mystery/thriller. It's thought-provoking and delivers a powerful message. Some won't get it. Some are unable to get it. Others can't get past the sleazy elements. For the rest of us it's a worthwhile, heavy and potent piece of filmmaking. Travolta is at his charismatic best and Madeleine Stowe is spellbinding. I'd give it a higher rating, but the implausible Hollywoodisms stack-up toward the end and the revelation of the murderer and aftermath is weak.GRADE: B+

Actually, the audiobook is the way to go on this story. It is very good, both in terms of the story and the reader. The movie is only a shadow of the original book and as such its hard to be objective about the movie. When you finally get to the part of Kent in the end and he just gives it up, its like, how pathetic can this get? The story of building the case against him in the book was more involved than this entire movie. And then, he blows himself up? Friggin Hollywood. Maybe its just not possible to make a good film out a book like this. I dunno. After watching this, I need to go smack myself in the skull with my shoe heel a couple a hundred times.....