Quoted from CrazyLevi:Yeah she was cast well and does a good job with a pretty pathetic part. It was nice that they resisted the urge to cast a 25-year old to be the perfunctory love interest.
Cruise has like zero chemistry with her, but I thought he had some with her daughter. Too bad they didn't spend a few minutes flushing out that (or in fact any) relationship a little.
As an aside I read somewhere that "Penny" is briefly mentioned in the original movie, so she's kind of a deep cut call back?
Cruise and McGillis had more chemistry in the original movie. I think Jennifer Connelly did a good enough job with the role though.