A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (1998)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Based on a true story, this one tugs at your heart strings. The acting was superb and the actors played their characters well. Kris was outstanding as the author/father. Leelee was easy to watch and Jesse played his part believably well. The story revolved around Channe, played by Leelee, as she grew from a child into a young woman. Bradford was the adopted brother, sullen and quite, but who had a deep love for his family and sister. It was a movie easy to follow, easy to watch and be caught up in. Family, Love, Friendship, and, in the end, the finality of death come across. A must see.

This movie won't be everyone's cup of tea, but is a very good movie. Please don't be put off by the other reviewer, but go to Roger Ebert's site and read his review. It can't be said any better. I couldn't place James Joyce. Well, duh, he wrote 'from here to eternity'.

"A Soldier´s Daughter Never Cries" is the kind of movie that, in spite of American production, feels very European. American movies tend to be sentimental with plenty of scenes specifically calculated to make viewers get teary eyed. European movies, though, usually opt for a more naturalistic approach that refuses to wallow in emotions. In the case of "Soldier´s Daughter", this characteristic can be both good and bad. It is good in the sense that the movie seems more realistic because one must admit that in real life, melodramatic conduct is not too common. Emotions seem to be hidden rather than absent and they actually do appear in small explosions like in the somewhat odd outbursts of the mother towards the end. Emotions also seem to be behind the strange behavior of the characters (e.g. the maid scrubbing the floor at midnight after breaking up with her lover or Billy acting antisocial to make up for his feelings of resentment). Howwever, there are quite a few scenes which should have been emotionally powerful but aren´t. A good dose of American sentiment could have made a difference. For example, in the one scene where Channe finally starts crying (the title of the movie is a saying her father keeps quoting at her), I understood the place of it in the plot but was not touched by it. When Francis, heartbroken, says goodbye to Channe after telling her his secret, the situation should have been heartrending but it also left me feeling hollow - and this in spite of the fact that Francis, an effeminate heterosexual, was probably the film´s most fascinating character. Furthermore, the parents´ understated reactions often make it seem that they do not really love or care about their children the way everyone keeps insisting they do (is that a possible hidden meaning ?). Otherwise, the movie is fine in the sense that it is intelligently written. Not only is it based on a novel but it feels as if it WAS a novel rather than a movie. The family is portrayed quite realistically. Even though the film does not seem to try to be artistic, it is lyrical enough to be seen as art.

This movie does a great job at reflecting the spirit of the sixties and seventies. The cast is brilliant. It's an honest story about family life and the growing pains it may encounter. A must see!