'Soldier' is high in cinema rank

Kris Kristofferson plays Bill, the rough and tough head of the Willis family. On one side, the former soldier is now a poker-playing author who cusses, smokes, drinks and seems to consider himself a real man's man. Yet, the character also has a very touching soft spot and his conversations with his daughter are well written and on the mark. Kristofferson delves into the part and his off-the-cuff remarks provide good shots of humor.

The story starts when Bill and his wife Marcella (Barbara Hershey) adopt 6-year-old Billy, an orphan from France, to add to their daughter Channe, who is about the same age. The children don't like each other at the beginning but the development of their friendship, conversations with their parents and days in school make a connection.

Writers James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala must have first-hand knowledge about the younger generation because the children come off as any 6-year-old might and not just as a cute kid.

As the children age and are portrayed by different actors, it would be natural to expect some sort of a letdown. After all, the movie is really clicking up to this point, and changing two important roles along with the passing of several years seems to be asking for trouble. But the makers of the movie were able to make the change effortlessly, and the movie is able to build on its earlier momentum rather than experience any sort of a decline.

The main reason for the smooth transition is the two young actors who step into the children's roles. Leelee Sobieski, last seen as Elijah Wood's wife in "Deep Impact," plays Channe, a teen struggling to strike a balance between family and friends.

In a cast of well-known actors, Sobieski is the glue that holds the film together. The role of Channe is at the center of the movie and Sobieski a delight to watch on screen whether she's talking to her parents about sexual relationships or getting ready for a date in front of the mirror.

Equally impressive is Jesse Bradford as the uninspired Billy. Unable to make friends at school, Billy seems more than happy to stay at home with his parents and watch television. Billy wants nothing to do with his past or any information that his birth mother may have left him. As the story moves on, this becomes a point of increasing tension between him and Marcella.

The lives of the two children are further complicated when Bill decides to move back to America because of his deteriorating health and the fact that he doesn't want his children to turn into "Euro-trash brats."

Director and co-writer James Ivory ("The Remains of the Day") handles the story with care and doesn't allow it to slip into a cliché coming-of-age tale. And although the movie is more about a story than fancy shots, Ivory still manages to include several tricky and interesting shots or sequences in the story.

If the film has a weakness, it is in the over-the-top acting by Hershey or the fact that it is hard to believe that parents would allow their children to do so much and be so open with them at such a young age. But these are minor qualms about an otherwise enjoyable movie that should serve as a launching pad for the careers of its two young stars.

10-07-98