The General's Daughter (film)

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This article is about the film. For the source book, see The General's Daughter (novel).
The General's Daughter
Generaldposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySimon West
Screenplay byChristopher Bertolini
William Goldman
Based onThe General's Daughter
1992 novel
by Nelson DeMille
Produced byMace Neufeld
Starring
CinematographyPeter Menzies Jr.
Edited byGlen Scantlebury
Music byCarter Burwell
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • June 18, 1999 (1999-06-18)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60-95 million[1][2]
Box office$149.7 million[2]

The General's Daughter is a 1999 American mystery thriller film directed by Simon West and starring John Travolta. The plot concerns the mysterious death of the daughter of a prominent Army general. The film is based on the 1992 novel by the same name by Nelson DeMille.

Plot[]

While in Georgia, Paul Brenner, a Chief Warrant Officer serving as an undercover agent of the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command, masquerades as First Sergeant Frank White to broker an illegal arms trade with a self-proclaimed freedom fighter.

On a local army base, Brenner gets a flat tire and Elisabeth Campbell, a captain in psychological operations and the daughter of Lieutenant General Joseph Campbell, the base commanding officer, assists him in changing it. The next evening she is found murdered. The base provost marshal, Colonel Bill Kent, secures the crime scene. Brenner and rape specialist Warrant Officer Sara Sunhill are brought in to investigate. They receive Elisabeth’s records and noted that her grades plummeted her second year at West Point. Brenner wants to visit Elizabeth’s house, but Colonel Kent declines because it’s off base; he takes the keys to her house.

Later searching Elisabeth's home Brenner and Sunhill find a room containing video and BDSM equipment, but an intruder attacks Brenner and removes the videotapes. Brenner questions Elisabeth's superior officer, Colonel Robert Moore, who evasively gives a false alibi, leading Brenner to arrest him on charges of conduct unbecoming an officer.

At the crime scene Sunhill is attacked in attempt to intimidate her and Brenner. During the attack she notices one assailant is wearing a silver claddagh ring, and identifies him as Captain Jake Elby. At gunpoint, Elby confesses that Elisabeth was sexually promiscuous with the men on the base as part of an extensive "psychological warfare" campaign against her father.

Back at the jail, Colonel Kent releases Moore, confining him to quarters at his home on-base. When Brenner, Sunhill and Kent return to Moore's home, they find him dead with an apparently self-inflicted bullet to the head. Brenner doubts that Moore's death was suicide. General Campbell's adjutant, Colonel Fowler, attempts to close the investigation stating Moore killed himself out of guilt, but Brenner insists the investigation is still open.

Brenner and Sunhill visit West Point’s psychiatrist, who explains years earlier during a training exercise several cadets brutally gang-raped Elisabeth and staked her down in the same position she was found murdered. Brenner and Sunhill also learn of a cadet that came forward regarding Elisabeth’s attack. Sunhill tracks down the former cadet and tricks him into admitting his presence during the attack; feeling trapped and guilt-ridden he admits being a witness and explains how the male cadets hated Elisabeth, since she surpassed them as a cadet.

Brenner and Sunhill visit the general, who corroborates the attack and confirms that Campbell met with another general before visiting Elisabeth in the hospital. The other general felt the assailants wouldn’t be caught given the type of training exercise and states the attack going public could ruin the concept of women in the military. Campbell reluctantly agrees and tries to convince Elisabeth to forget the attack. This denial of justice traumatizes Elisabeth.

Brenner deduces Elisabeth had Moore help her stage the attack scene so she could force her father to see the scene of the attack he covered up. Campbell states that he threatened Elisabeth with a court martial due to her affairs with multiple officers, including Provost Colonel Kent. It’s revealed the staged attack scene was also a response to the general’s ultimatum. Unmoved by the staged scene, the general left his daughter tied at the scene.

Brenner realizes that Kent letting Moore out of prison, taking Elisabeth’s keys, and sleeping with her makes Kent a suspect. Brenner learns that Kent is at the crime scene with Sunhill and wants Brenner to join them. At the scene Kent admits he was obsessed with Elisabeth and found her at the staged scene. Elisabeth, upset over her father being unmoved by her effort, dismissed Kent and spat in his face. Enraged, Kent strangled her. He also admits that he murdered Moore to evade detection. Kent then commits suicide by stepping on a mine.

As General Campbell prepares to get on the plane to accompany Elisabeth's body to the funeral, Brenner confronts him and holds him responsible for her death, explaining that his betrayal of Elisabeth in effect killed her years ago and Kent just put her out of her misery. Brenner informs the general they discovered the identity of the assailants with minimal effort and they face 20 years in prison. Though General Campbell threatens Brenner to keep silent, Brenner has him court-martialed for conspiracy to conceal a crime, thus ruining the general's career.

Cast[]

Production[]

The General's Daughter was directed by Simon West and produced by Mace Neufeld. It was an adaptation of the best-selling book of the same name, written by Nelson DeMille and published in 1992. William Goldman did some work on the script. Michael Douglas was originally attached to star.[3]

Much of the film was filmed in various locations in and around Savannah, Georgia.

A love scene between Travolta and Stowe was cut from the final film.[4]

Two key changes were made after test screenings: Travolta's character made a stronger moral stand at the end, and it became clearer at the beginning that he was a military investigator working undercover.[5]

Reception[]

Box office[]

Against an estimated budget from $60 to $95 million,[1][2] the film grossed almost $103 million at the domestic box office, contributing to a worldwide gross of $150 million.[2]

Critical response[]

The film had generally negative reviews with 22% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 89 reviews with an average rating of 4.3/10. The consensus is "Contrived performances and over-the-top sequences offer little real drama".[6] On Metacritic the film has a score of 47% based on reviews from 24 critics.[7] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.[8]

Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 out 4, describing The General's Daughter as well-made and with credible performances, but marred by a death scene that was "so unnecessarily graphic and gruesome that by the end I felt sort of unclean."[9]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "The General's Daughter (1999) - Financial Information". The Numbers (website). Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  2. ^ a b c d "The General's Daughter". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  3. ^ Smith, Liz (11 December 1997). "If It's Uma - OK!". Newsday. p. A15. ProQuest 279061104.
  4. ^ Giammarco, David (5 June 1999). "From the deep south to outer space: John Travolta plays a military sleuth in his new film The General's Daughter. In next year's Battlefield Earth, he's a 10-foot-tall alien invader". National Post. p. 4. ProQuest 329519951.
  5. ^ Portman, Jamie (11 June 1999). "Movie thriller may upset U.S. military". North Bay Nugget. p. C10. ProQuest 352486546.
  6. ^ "The General's Daughter". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  7. ^ "The General's Daughter". Metacritic.
  8. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  9. ^ Ebert, Roger (1999). "The General's Daughter". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 14, 2017.

External links[]

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