Basic (2003)

Rated “R” for Violence, Language, and Drug Innuendo

114 Minutes

Those of you I find lacking will quit. And those of you who refuse to quit will have a training accident. This base suffers three training accidents a year. Unfortunate accidents that I will not hesitate to repeat if you cross me! -Sgt. Nathan West

Synopsis

A Sergeant with a wicked reputation is murdered, along with four of his Elite Rangers.  Something has gone very wrong on a Ranger training mission in the middle of a hurricane and the jungle.  Only two men remain, and one has been shot.  The military training base is already under strict scrutiny, and the Colonel running the show calls out all the stops bringing in a DEA interrogator named Hardy, that was former Ranger himself.  He is the best in his field.  He with the assistance of the base interrogator, begins asking the one man  who isn’t shot, questions.  When the Ranger finally begins to speak, they are not the answers Hardy had hoped for, and when Kendall, the man who was shot, and Dunbar  begin to contradict each others stories even more mystery begins to avail.  Suddenly, it appears there is a lot more going on that a simple accident or miscommunication.  Drugs and corruption among the military seem to be at stake and Hardy plans to get to the bottom of it at any cost.

Review

Basic is what suspense and mystery is all about.  It’s twisted plot never takes a break and it’s keeps evolving.  It feeds you enough information to start buying what they are selling, but before the viewer has a moment to start seeing the holes in the story, it jumps to a new one that contradicts it anyway.  It seems everyone is a liar and no one can be trusted.  With a pacing that is perfect each confusing moment makes the next even more engaging.  The story never let’s the viewers mind wander too long, and what it does is keep you at odds with our heroes who are trying to discover the mystery with you.  Movies of this nature are sensational when done right and have a fantastic re-watch value.  What Basic did was give the viewer an entertaining story, told is a smart and suspenseful way, with a reasonably strong cast re-uniting Sam Jackson and John Travolta.

Even with the fun plot and charismatic character’s, there are places where Basic failed.  Because the plot was constantly twisting and turning so much it was difficult for a viewer connection to be made.  This certainly wasn’t a film where you could count on any of your character’s to be steady, as they were constantly changing their sides, and even their identities, it left it nearly impossible after a certain amount of time to evoke any real interest in their outcomes.  The character’s and story changed so much it became difficult to remember who was who and why or why not they were either a good guy or a bad guy.  Even the last twist of the movie is a bit disorienting.  One thing director John McTiernan has done with in the past with movies like Die Hard and Predator was give the viewer character’s very fully fleshed with a very climatic arc.  This story very sorrily missed that important point of development.

Cast

• John Travolta as Hardy
• Samuel L. Jackson as Sgt. Nathan West
• Connie Nielson as Osbourne
• Tim Daly as Colonel Styles
• Giovanni Ribisi as Kendall
• Brian Von Holt as Dunbar 
• Taye Diggs as Pike

There were some interesting players in the cast but some of the performances left some pretty intense scenes weak.  Connie Nielson as Osbourne was uncomfortable playing against Travolta and Daly.  The veteran talents of each of them left her discomfort in her role transparent.  This stole away some of the integrity of important scenes.  Her performance aside, Travolta was his usual charismatic self and Jackson slipped comfortably into the maniacal Sergeant who yelled and made terrible threats.  West, Hardy, and Kendall played by Giovanni Ribisi, were the most interesting and best performances throughout the film.

Ratings and Suggestions

Don’t expect Die Hard or The Hunt For Red October as far as depth is concerned.  Basic is not that deep of a film as it feeds off it’s twists and turns and gains momentum through distortion rather than character and plot development, but it still takes you for one fun ride.  It’s rated “R” for Violence and Adult Language and really is an adult viewing.  This is a straight up action flick that’s meant to be watched while eating an enormous bowl of popcorn passing the night away.  If you take it as a movie that’s meant to entertain and not to stimulate, you will find incredibly enjoyable.  Even with the holes and misses I still had enough fun with Basic to give it Three out of Four stars.