The General's Daughter (1999)

When an investigative military thriller takes off from the murder of a comely officer whose nude corpse has been left, roped and spread-eagle, out on the base, you know that the filmmakers have something on their minds besides justice. The General's Daughter has a lewd, voyeuristic exploitation-film veneer that, for a while, at least, diverts your attention from its grindingly far-fetched cliches about unspeakable cover-ups in high places. John Travolta, as the Army internal affairs officer in charge of the case, appears more bullnecked than ever, and his abrasive, nuance-free performance matches his look: It's as if he'd been pumped up with hot air. It's some sort of bad joke that Nelson DeMille's best-seller, a rancorous tract against women in the military, has been contorted into a movie that says: Honor the dignity of enlisted women — or they'll turn into sluts. C