A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries

(Universal)

None of James Jones's dark, edgy talent seems to have found its way into this episodic, humdrum account from his daughter Kaylie (played by a passive Leelee Sobieski) of growing up in Paris in the '60s, relating to her adoptive brother, and dealing with high-school dating on her family's return to America. Kris Kristofferson is an irrelevant Jones; Barbara Hershey is a more engaging presence as his wife, but James Ivory's usual period window dressing seems pointless here.