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A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries

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United Kingdom, France, United States · 1998
Rated R · 2h 7m
Director James Ivory
Starring Kris Kristofferson, Leelee Sobieski, Jane Birkin, Barbara Hershey
Genre Drama

This fictionalized story, based on the family life of writer James Jones, is an emotional slice-of-life story. Jones is portrayed here portrayed as Bill Willis, a former war hero turned author who combats alcoholism and is starting to experience health problems. Living in France with his wife, daughter, and an adopted son, the family travels an unconventional road which casts them as outsiders to others. Preaching a sexual freedom, his daughter's sexual discovery begins at an early age and betrays her when the family moves to Hanover in America. Her overt sexuality clashes with the values of her teenage American peers and gives her a problematic reputation. Meanwhile, her brooding brother copes with his own interior pain regarding his past, only comfortable communicating within the domestic space.

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What are critics saying?

100

Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

Soldier's Daughter thrives less on Hollywood-style drama than on nuances of personality, details of everyday life, and emotions so commonplace that conventional movies rarely take the time to acknowledge them, much less explore them with loving care.

88

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Not only was I touched by the characters and engrossed by their story during the 120 minutes they were on screen, but I could have easily spent another hour or two with them.

80

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Somehow, against considerable obstacles, it has captured something true about families and friendship, creating a texture of believable emotions on screen.

50

Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten

The story's accumulation of scattered impressions is exactly what bedevils the film's overall impact. The story lacks focus, sustained development, and direction.

75

San Francisco Chronicle by Peter Stack

By now, fans of the studied loveliness of Merchant Ivory films savor that they aren't pat, slick or especially action-packed. A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries is a fine example -- themes percolate and evolve into poignancy.

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