Basic

Basic (2003)

Directed by John McTiernan

Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Connie Nielsen

Director John McTiernan is an action guy. His films include Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, and Predator. His most recent work is this 2003 film starring John Travolta (Pulp Fiction, Lonely Hearts), Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers, Jackie Brown), and Connie Nielsen (Gladiator, Rushmore).

Agent Hardy (Travolta) of the DEA has just been put to work with Army officer Osborne (Nielsen) after a notorious drill sergeant (Jackson) goes missing during a training exercise. Also missing are some of the soldiers that were with him. As Hardy and Osborne continue to investigate, the two find themselves in the middle of a perplexing and dangerous situation. Now they need to find out who is telling the truth in this game of cat and mouse.

This movie is okay at best. The cast would lead you to believe that it is much more than that. The blame shouldn’t be put on the cast of this movie though. Travolta and the rest of the cast actually do a good job with the material. The weakness of the movie is the story. Although there are entertaining moments in the film, the story keeps adding new information which becomes harder to follow throughout. In the end it’s a patchwork quilt of mystery with a weak resolution.

This time around I’d suggest saving your time. If you’re a die-hard fan of Travolta it might be worth seeing, but otherwise it’s a bit too weak for me. I give this movie 2 out of 5 stars.

Rating: R

Running Time: 98 minutes