Synopsis

The Army is still a very guarded world apart, with its own codes and values that it protects at all costs. Paul Brenner (John Travolta) is a top investigator from the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, complete with special liberties allowing him to inquiry into suspicious persons no matter what their rank in the Army.

Called to Fort MacCallum to investigate arms trafficking, he briefly meets Elisabeth Campbell (Leslie Stefanson) who several hours later was found raped and assassinated within the confines of the Fort. She just happens to be General Campbell's daughter who is in the running for vice president of the United States. When warrant officer Paul Brenner is assigned to look into the murder of Captain Elisabeth Campbell, he inadvertently uncovers a scandal of immense proportions...

Simon West, director

"While it was fun blowing things up on Con Air, I preferred directing the dramatic parts of the story. I really wanted to exercise that muscle and find a project that was rather more serious. When The General's Daughter popped up, I read the book, loved it and jumped on board."

"The book was written in a very screenplay-like fashion. It was very visual, which piqued my interest right away. It was like a 400-page script that we had to edit down to normal movie length. There were so many great scenes; we would just pluck them straight from Nelson DeMille's text. It's a good old-fashioned drama about betrayal and conspiracy along with lots of sexual tension. It's the perfect Shakespearean play."

"He's been around the block. He's worldly, he's been to war, he's won medals. He's looked death in the face, but on the other hand, he's so light about the evil he sees. I find that policemen have to do that. Add the military complexities and you really have to be light about disaster. There's where you get your dry wit. That complexity is what pulled me into this."

Madeleine Stowe

"John's character is the kind of man woman love being around," says co-star Madeleine Stowe. There's a sense of strength and passion and bedevilment about him. You don't know quite where you stand. He's really charming both on and off the screen."

"John is a titanic film presence. He makes it look so simple that you don't realize what he's doing and you forget what a great actor he is. The camera just rips something from him and puts it in front of you on the screen. His work appears to be so minimal, but it isn't at all. He gets everything; he has tremendous craft behind what he does. He's really in love with the work and it's a pleasure for everyone on set to be around him."

Madeleine Stowe came to the production immediately after wrapping her work on Playing By Heart. Although she had read an early version of the script as well as the novel, she also prepared for the role by drawing from her many conversations over the years with a long time friend who, as a clinical psychologist, had dealt frequently with victims of rape and abuse. Like most Americans, she was also acutely aware of the changing role of women in the military, having watched numerous news programs and documentaries.

Simon West

"This film is like a chess game. How do we draw the audience in and not leave any loopholes or confusing questions? It's a mental game where the challenge is to keep all of these characters alive and give hints of who committed the murder or who might know about it without giving too much away and without cheating. It's very detailed because each character is so complicated and interesting. We've combined wit, humor, and tragedy with a love story in the middle. It's just one big mind game…and sometimes it's been one big headache keeping everything straight. But it's always worth it in the end."

John Travolta

Travolta debuted on screen in Carrie by Brian De Palma and the following year began his career as one of America's most popular actors with his role in Saturday Night Fever in 1977. Then came Grease, which, along with Staurday Night Fever, became two of the best-selling soundtracks of all time.

Of Italian and Irish decent, Travolta was born in New Jersey. He has been honored twice with Academy Award nominations, most recently for his portrayal of a philosophical hit man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for this highly acclaimed role and was named Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Swedish Film Festival. In 1998 Travolta was honored by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with the Britannia Award. Also in 1998 Travolta received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chicago Film Festival.

With more than 30 films behind him, some of the titles not already mentioned here include Urban Cowboy (1980), Blow Out (1981), Get Shorty (1995), Broken Arrow (1996), Phenomenon and Michael (1996), She's So Lovely and Face/Off (1997), Primary Colors and A Civil Action (1998).