I don't think less is more in this case. Generally I favor low key films, but this movie has too little drama. What tension there is seems to be too little and too late. Just as one seems to arrive at the film's point(s) it's just about over. I do praise the restraint the film exercises in drawing its characters, but i am only moved by Francis (the daughters Paris friend) and Billy (her adopted brother). These two make the movie for me--both convincing outsiders, interesting and very troubled. But neither is, of course, a main character. The principal characters are rather unlikeable and somewhat static--they are not much different than all the stylish, rather snobby, and obnoxious teachers who are shown in the Paris section of the film. This said, these main characters do seem more human and real as things progress and do seem to invite the viewer to a second viewing.

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'.

I just saw this film at Roger Ebert's 4th annual Overlooked FilmFestival and I was thoroughly charmed by it, despite numerous projection difficulties at this particular screening. Its poignantwithout being oversentimental and also funny and engagingthroughout. I'd recommend it highly.

"A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries" is a film which revolves around the proverbial institution known as family, but particularly, the relationship between a daughter and her father.The film is divided into three separate sections: "Billy," which discusses the arrival of an adopted son into the family, "Francis," which revolves around the female protagonist, Channe's, best friend, and "Daddy."In each of these categories, we are primarily subjected to the experiences of Channe, who is portrayed by the nubile, charismatic Leelee Sobieski. In them, we learn a little about her character, though strangely enough, not as much as we do about her father, whose unconditional positive regard for his daughter does much more than delineate the characteristics of the relationships among the members of the family.The acting from the entire cast is superb, and from the actors' and actresses' demeanor emanates a very credible atmosphere. Yet the one element that truly grasped my attention was the editing, which with the exception of a couple of segments, added an extremely high element of poignancy to the story. James Ivory was obviously extremely assiduous with the film in this respect, and the final result consists of a strong narrative which appears somewhat terse, but knows exactly what quantity of what the viewer should be fed.Cynical commentary has argued that this film is nothing short of tripe because it lacks a resolute motive--it consists of no conflict at all. All it is is disjointed scenes which serve no relevance to one another, and fail to tell a coherent story. The former statement in regards to the lack of conflict holds true, but the latter is what might be deemed questionable. Afterall, this is a story about the life of a family--and in a real family, few events from the past bear relevance to those of the present. "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries" simply seeks to discuss the development of relationships in a family; events of high caliber are discussed thoroughly, while those of less importance portray to be all that they could ever be: memories.