Along with "The Core", this has been the best
weekend for popkorn flicks that has emerged in a long
while. "Basic" is your typical military
thriller filled with twists and turns, but with one
difference--a kick ass cast and your better than average
twists and turns. Thus, this movie was 'pretty cool,
dude".
Samuel L. Jackson stars as Sgt. Nathan West, a military
legend who is in charge of 'shaping up' the Green Berets.
During a practice run in the Columbian jungles, some
soldiers, including West, end up dead, and only two
survivors remain, leaving many questions unanswered.
So, who ya' gonna call? Why, DEA agent Tom Hardy, of
course, portrayed with ferocious zeal and excitement by
John Travolta. Alas, Hardy's joining the
investigation really gets under the skin of Lt. Julia
Osbourne, played by Connie Nielsen. So, it is up to
she and Hardy to interrogate the two survivors and
discover exactly what went afoul in the jungles. The
two survivors (Giovanni Ribisi and Brian Van Holt) juggle
around stories like bowling pins while Travolta and
Nielsen slowly piece together the puzzle. The ending
will shock you beyond belief, and is almost too much to
handle--I stress the word 'almost'. And, though we
are backpeddling a lot and trying to decide if everything
adds up, we get to watch Samuel L. Jackson pull another
bad ass role off effortlessly. Not to mention, John
Travolta looks like he is having a hell of a lot of fun.
This cast is just exceptional. Tim Daly stars as the
colonel, Harry Connick, Jr. is a doctor at the military
hospital, and Taye Diggs and Roselyn Sanchez round out the
missing soldiers. Travolta and Nielsen have great
chemistry, and Jackson pulls out all the stops.
Without the superb cast, this one might have easily
flopped.
Now, I know that most critics are going to pan the hell
out of this for it's endless amounts of twists and turns,
but I don't think they hit us with more than we can
handle. And, when the ending does finally comes
around, something happens that never usually does
--(SPOILER)--the good guys win. What else do you
want from a flick?
I enjoyed the way in which we saw the story told from
different view points and I liked how Travolta managed to
convey his expertise as an interrogator without using the
typical interrogation techniques. They build him up
to be an exceptional interrogator and they do not fail to
deliver. What I did want more of was Jackson and
Diggs--they were outstanding and both commanded very
little screen time.
So, if you want a good old
fashioned military thriller with more twists and turns
than the Audobon, then "Basic" is the film for
you. Along with "The Core", it goes to
show that the good old days of quality popkorn flicks are
far from over, and are starting to flourish once again.
And, I am sorry about having to end this review with a
corny title plug, but it is just 'basic'...
