Saturday, May 29, 2010

The General's Daughter

I had avoided this a few years ago when it was in the theaters, primarily because the trailers made it seem like a slasher/rape movie. And while the plot does revolve around a rape, it is not explicit or horrific beyond what you might see on an episode of Law & Order. So what do we get? John Travolta is an investigator in the Army who is assigned to investigate the murder of young captain who happens to be the daughter of a retiring general and political hopeful. In unwinding the life and background of this captain, Travolta uncovers the secrets that will lead to solving the murder as well as the secrets that are embarrassing to the general, the army, the politically powerful, etc. So as an investigative thriller, it is sufficiently mediocre and I am not sorry to have only seen it as a late night diversion. What it did get me thinking about was Travolta. He plays a strong willed protagonist with a clear set of ethics that give him a "more moral than you" persona. I only mention this because it is the same persona he plays in so many of his other films (The Taking of Pelham 123, Swordfish, Civil Action, Michael, to name a few). It doesn't seem to matter if he is the good guy or the bad guy. He always puts his ethic to the audience as the one that should be valued, or at least appreciated. Not sure whether this bugs me or not, but it was something I noticed.
3 stars (out of 5)

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