General's Daughter, The MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -3 1/2

Captain Elisabeth Campbell (Leslie Stefanson), daughter of General Fighting Joe Campbell (James Cromwell), is found brutally murdered and no one wants to investigate the case. That is until warrant officer Paul Brenner (John Travolta), from the Armys Criminal Investigation Division, gets involved. He is joined by another CID officer, Sarah Sunhill (Madeleine Stowe), an unwelcomed figure from Brenners own past. Jeopardizing his own career, Brenner doggedly pursues the truth to the disliking of some higher-ups. The deeper he digs for answers, the more shocking and twisted this case becomes. He finds out a violent personal attack, during Captain Campbells past military training at West Point, led to a cover up and likely motive for her murder. But getting to the real truth is more than Brenner bargained for. Can he break the military code of silence, or will the case remain forever shrouded in secrecy? An intriguing military mystery-thriller, THE GENERALS DAUGHTER keeps audiences guessing until the very end. And Travolta is characteristically charming and intensely dominating at the same time.

While the film is highly engrossing, it includes some shocking and disturbing scenes of violence, sexual brutality and unconventional sexual activity. The generals daughter is shown fully nude both before and after her death. A video shows her and a man engaging in unconventional sexual activity. And a flashback to her brutal attack at West Point is disturbingly realistic. The story has a positive message about justice. And it speaks against covering up criminal activity with some unwritten military code of protecting your comrades. But this mystery would have been just as powerful without its unnecessarily graphic and disturbing scenes. A full course of obscenities and profanities further add to this unpalatable mixture. A popular study done some time ago revealed that images similar to those in this film desensitized college men to sexual brutality. And serial killer Ted Bundy revealed in the last interview before his execution that violence of this type in mainstream Hollywood movies increased his brutal urges. THE GENERALS DAUGHTER is another example of Hollywoods penchant for gratuitous violence, sexual content, and foul language in films.

Preview Reviewer: Cliff McNeely
Distributor: Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA 90038