IN THEATERS The General’s Daughter

Simon West’s “The General’s Daughter” does the right thing by not disappointing fans of Nelson DeMille’s best-selling novel.

The film seethes with intelligence, crisp writing, strong characters and an excellent cast spearheaded by John Travolta, Madeleine Stowe, James Woods, Timothy Hutton and James Cromwell. It earns its stars and stripes with dialogue that crackles and a sharp, sardonic edge that helps to brighten a plot that’s shot through with dark, ugly overtones.

In the film, Capt. Elisabeth Campbell (Leslie Stefanson) has been dishonorably discharged from life — on her father’s command post, her body is discovered naked and strangled in the middle of a training field. If that isn’t enough, in her basement is all sorts of kinky fare, including video tapes of her having sex with nearly every man who answers directly to her father, the elusive Gen. Joe Campbell (Cromwell).

Clearly, somebody here has issues. But who’s responsible for Elisabeth’s death is up to Warrant Officer Paul Brenner (Travolta) and CID agent Sarah Sunhill (Stowe) to find out.

While the book had greater moments of tension and an ending that seemed far less preposterous, West’s film is nevertheless engaging. What’s terrific is the word play between the characters, who are never dumbed down and provide necessary levity in a film whose soul is locked with the most sordid of basements.

Grade: B

Tarzan

Proving that Austin Powers isn’t the only well-swung swinger in town, the studio’s 37th animated feature film, “Tarzan,” soared into theaters last weekend with a terrific box office roar delivered by a character who looks great in a loin cloth in spite of being nearly 90.

Created by pulp-fiction writer Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1914, this new Tarzan (voice of Tony Goldwyn) is all fluid motion, tight abs, big pecs and bigger hair. With Jane (voice of Minnie Driver) on his arm, he swings through Disney’s spectacular roller coaster of a jungle less like the less-buff Johnny Weissmuller or Elmo Lincoln, and more like Peter Pan, flipping high and flying higher than any Tarzan in history.

The film skirts the awkward issues in Burroughs’ book by removing any hint of racism; there are no restless natives here. Instead, it uses the timeless Disney formula to turn this Tarzan into a coming-of-age tale sparked with an orphan’s identity crisis.

For the most part, it works. At only 88 minutes, the film is cut like a music video to tell a story — and tell it fast. It opens with Kala (voice of Glenn Close), a mother ape who lost her newborn to a vicious leopard attack, and now finds an orphan she will raise as Tarzan in spite of objections from her difficult mate, Kerchak (voice of Lance Henriksen).

Naturally, evil enters, this time in the form of Clayton (voice of Brian Blessed), a travel guide who wants to capture Tarzan’s family of apes, but Clayton’s evil has had its vines clipped. Unlike the best Disney villains (such as the evil witch Maleficent in “Sleeping Beauty”), Clayton is too often played for laughs — which usurps his hold on the audience.

Still, the film is mostly a rollicking pleasure, scoring big with a fun video-game feel and with animation that’s always visually arresting.

Grade: B+

ON VIDEO

Dancing at Lughnasa

Pat O’Connor’s timid yet heartfelt “Dancing at Lughnasa” follows five proud, hard-working Irish women all caught in the throes of quiet desperation.

Based on Brian Friel’s Tony Award-winning play, the film stars Meryl Streep as Kate Mundy, a woman so repressed by her strict Catholic upbringing, she has never truly lived. Neither have her sisters, who all shrink beneath Kate’s formidable, pious presence, until one sister — Christina (Catherine McCormack) — tentatively breaks free.

The play’s power was in its careful balance of heartache and loss underscored with humor, but the film shifts that balance, losing the humor in favor of tense, maudlin moments that sometimes give way to bittersweet poignancy.

The film is slow going, but compensates with lush cinematography, strong writing and an excellent cast led by Streep, who delivers another deeply realized performance. Whether in a glance or in the most casual of gestures, she has the ability to convey the soul exposed. “Lughnasa” gives her that opportunity in a film that will have particular appeal to those who follow the works of Frank McCourt, Thomas Wolfe and Maine’s Sanford Phippen.

Grade: B-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His film reviews appear each Monday and Thursday in the NEWS. Tonight on WLBZ’s News Center 5:30 Today and News Center Tonight, he appears in The Video Corner.