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Hot Damn, HooHaw , BooYaw and YeeHaw, it is about time a thriller comes out, that is just that, thrilling. It has been a long time coming were I haven’t figured out the ending or the plot before halfway through the film. Basic, starring John Travolta (Domestic Disturbance) will keep you guessing all the way to the end. So, suspense, action and a svelte Travolta, what more could a girl ask for? Okay, Henry Connick Jr.’s ass exposed or even Travolta’s ass, would have been nice but, I will settle for the action and suspense. Travolta is DEA agent Tom Hardy, a former Army Ranger currently under investigation in Panama, for allegedly taking bribes. Timothy Daly is Colonel Bill Styles, a friend of Hardy’s. They trained together, as Army Rangers under the command of Sgt. Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson, XXX), a prick of a guy and controversial in his methods but, a good leader. Styles command is also in Panama and he seeks the help of his friend to conduct an investigation of a training mission that went severely wrong. West took his cadets into the jungle for a live ammo exercise and only two came back. Currently trying to get the facts from one of the survivors is Lt. Julia Osborne (Connie Nelson, The Hunted). She opposes bringing in someone who is not Army because the investigation will not be official. Hardy uses all the regular interrogation tactics with Dunbar (Brian Van Holt, Windtalkers), such as good cop, bad cop, offering food, sharing of cigarettes, common ground like baseball and trying to win trust, but Dunbar refuses to speak even though he asked specifically for a Ranger. So Osborne and Hardy head to the hospital to interview the injured Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi, Gone in 60 Seconds). Dunbar carried him through the Panama jungle to safety. Kendall is the homosexual son of a general, so definitely a disappointment to daddy who would like to avoid a scandal. Kendall gives a detailed account of what happened, but offers up Dunbar for killing everyone but West. This is because Pike (Taye Diggs, Chicago) launched a hand grenade on West, killing him. Dunbar then gives a different version of what happened, but his account has West shot and it wasn’t Pike that did it. Oh, and Dunbar’s story includes drugs. Well before I give away all of the plot, I will stop. But just let me add this story goes in a few more directions before we find out what really happened. Basic is very hard to follow because it changes so much and moves so fast, but well worth paying attention to. I was a bit annoyed that some pertinent information was held back from an earlier discussion between Hardy and Styles that I would have liked to have known about. This discovery was revealed when Osborne made a connection of Dunbar using the number eight to Kendall, also using an eight. The animosity Osborne felt for Hardy seems a little forced and over acted. The story went much smoother when they worked together instead of fighting each other. Also in Basic was Roselyn Sanchez (Rush Hour 2), Cristian de la Fuente, Nick Loren, Chris Byrne, Dash Mihok and Harry Connick Jr (Hope Floats) as Chief Warrant Officer Pete Wilmer. Wilmer is also the former love interest of Osborne and a long time friend of Hardy, plus he is also the head doctor at the hospital. James Vanderbilt wrote the script to Basic. There were no slow moments and it seems to move so fast, and then it was over. Every time I thought I had it figured out, a new twist was added to create more suspense. Basic was an enthralling film and I would have liked more chances to figure out the ending. What made Basic a more convincing script was that despite the overt sexual advancements, they did not act on it at a really stupid time and distract us from the investigation. I gave Basic a 10 on the About-Movies.com scale.At ease.
Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:45:59 AM Click Here to get back into frames.
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