The General's Daughter

Competent, professional and workmanlike – but inescapably dull, and never especially engaging – Con Air director Simon West’s first “serious”, flick isn’t a bad movie by any means, but it isn’t exactly thrilling stuff either, and while it swallows up a couple of hours effectively enough, it leaves little to remain in the memory.

Its most notable feature is the way in which (in common with related recent movies such as Courage Under Fire) it timidly hints at something rotten in the state of the US military establishment, which (the film suggests) is completely above the law and answerable to nobody.

Essentially a murder mystery, The General’s Daughter is astutely cast, if nothing else: John Travolta is generally accepted to be the living cinematic embodiment of Goodness and Decency, and he plays the film’s moral centre to perfection, as a criminal investigator assigned to look into the brutal murder of the titular General’s daughter (Leslie Stevenson). He progressively stumbles on a succession of murky secrets which could potentially incriminate a range of James Woods and Clarence Williams III: most of them seem to be going through the motions, but Woods is as edgy and attention-grabbing as ever, and arguably the best thing about the movie.

The unbelievably stunning Madeleine Stowe obviously doesn’t do the film any harm in a lively role as Travolta’s co-investigator, old flame and verbal sparring partner, although the role is a sadly underdeveloped one – and the entire affair plods along in sure-footed if ponderous fashion, with the final half-hour doing just about enough to accelerate the heart-beat.

While The General’s Daughter isn’t essential viewing by any means, it’s also impossible to dismiss out of hand – it was evidently put together with considerable care, it is acted enthusiastically by a range of talented players, and there isn’t a loose end unsolved by the time it runs its course.

There is a definite air of rainy-afternoon dullness about the entire project, and it singularly fails to set the blood pressure racing, but within the confines of its own limited ambition. The General’s Daughter can probably be considered a moderate success.