The General's Daughter (film)

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 to 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 Warant Officer Sara Sunhill are brought in to investigate. They receive Elisabeth’s records and see her grades plummeted her second year at West Point. Brenner tries to visit Elizabeth’s house off base, but Colonel Kent declines because it’s off base and takes the keys to her house.
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 apparent 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 corroborate the attack and confirm 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 women in the military. Campbell reluctantly agrees and tries to convince Elisabeth to forget the attack. This denial of justice traumatizes Elisabeth.
Brennen 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 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 Kent letting Moore out of prison, taking Elisabeth’s keys, and sleeping with her, makes Kent a suspect. Brenner learns Kent is at the crime scene with Sunhill and wants Brenner to join them. At the crime 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 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 killed her years ago and her murder 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==
*John Travolta as Chief Warrant Officer Paul Brenner
*Madeleine Stowe as Chief Warrant Officer Sarah Sunhill
*James Cromwell as Lieutenant General Joe Campbell
*Timothy Hutton as Colonel Bill Kent
*Leslie Stefanson as Captain Elisabeth Campbell, General Campbell's daughter and Psychological Operations (United States) Officer
*Daniel von Bargen as Chief of Police Yardley
* Clarence Williams III as Colonel George Fowler, Adjuntant to the General
*James Woods as Colonel Bob Moore and Captain Elisabeth Campbell's Commanding Officer
*Mark Boone Jr. as Sergeant Dalbert Elkins
*John Beasley as Colonel Don Slesinger and Captain Elisabeth Campbell's Psychiatrist
*Boyd Kestner as Captain Jake Elby
* Brad Beyer as Captain Bransford
*John Benjamin Hickey as Captain Goodson
==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.
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.
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.
==Reception ==
===Box office===
Against an estimated budget from $60 to $95 million, The General's Daughter grossed almost $103 million at the domestic box office, contributing to a worldwide gross of $150 million.
===Critical response ===
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 21% based on 89 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Contrived performances and over-the-top sequences offer little real drama." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
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."
==Theatrical Trailer==
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Category:Paramount Pictures films
Category:Paramount films
Category:Films starring John Travolta
Category:Films directed by Simon West
Category:1999 drama films
Category:1990s buddy films
Category:2:35:1 Aspect Ratio Films
Category:1990s mystery thriller films
Category:1990s thriller drama films
Category:American films
Category:American buddy films
Category:American mystery films
Category:American political thriller films
Category:Films about American military personnel
Category:Films based on military novels
Category:Films produced by Mace Neufeld
Category:Films scored by Carter Burwell
Category:Films shot in Savannah, Georgia
Category:Films about rape in the United States
Category:Films with screenplays by William Goldman
Category:Films about the United States Army
Category:Films about the United States Army's psychological operations units
Category:Drama
Category:Thriller
Category:Mystery
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