Friday, March 28, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

MOVIE REVIEW: Simply Resistible

John Travolta mystery 'Basic' ignores filmmaking essentials

At a storm-wracked Army base, investigator Tom Hardy (John Travolta), center, gets a grip on Dunbar (Brian Van Holt), one of two survivors of a doomed training mission, while Capt. Julia Osbourne (Connie Nielsen), third from left, and Col. Bill Styles (Tim Daly), the base commander, second from right, bear witness. Martinet Sgt. Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson) imposes discipline -- his way -- on a group of Army Ranger trainees dodging a hurricane in "Basic."

When it comes to moviemaking basics, "Basic" overlooks more than a few.

A twisty mystery with a suddenly all-too-timely military backdrop, "Basic" boasts enough pretzel logic to power a Rold Gold factory.

But that's not quite enough to make the movie work.

Such basics as characterization and motivation can play a pivotal role in helping by-the-numbers thrillers transcend their pedestrian origins.

"Basic," however, betrays a basic indifference to such niceties. It's too busy whipping up new plot complications to bother constructing a solid foundation for them.

If you're in the mood to go along for the ride, however, "Basic" offers a few -- a very few -- diversions.

The action takes place in late-'90s Panama -- in the midst of a suitably turbulent hurricane -- and involves a doomed Army Rangers training mission under the command of gleeful martinet Sgt. Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson, in familiar bad-ass mode).

Six soldiers embark on the jungle mission. Only two make it back.

And determining what happened to the rest -- including the much-despised Sgt. West -- may be too much for Capt. Julia Osbourne ("The Hunted's" Connie Nielsen), the base investigator, to handle on her own.

Enter ex-Ranger -- and ace interrogator -- Tom Hardy (John Travolta), who's now a disgraced DEA agent accused of bribery and awaiting his fate.

Called in by his old Army pal, base commander Col. Bill Styles (Tim Daly), Hardy has one thing in common with the two survivors of the fateful training mission: a healthy hatred of the dictatorial Sgt. West.

This camaraderie gets one of the survivors talking: Dunbar (played by Brian Van Holt, back in uniform after "Windtalkers" and "Black Hawk Down").

Too bad his story totally contradicts the one related by the mission's other survivor: Levi Kendall (an annoyingly mannered Giovanni Ribisi), son of a Joint Chiefs of Staff bigwig, who's hospitalized for the wounds he sustained in the ordeal. Conveniently, the head of the base hospital, Dr. Pete Vilmer (Harry Connick Jr.) also happens to be an Army buddy of Hardy's.

As "Basic" purports to decipher What Really Happened, the movie flashes back to show the tension-packed training exercise that led to disaster -- and the unit's other members (played by, among others, "Chicago's" Taye Diggs, "The Guru's" Dash Mihok and "Boat Trip's" Roselyn Sanchez).

Hardy and Capt. Osbourne, meanwhile, engage in a mildly flirtatious, mildly suspicious dance to determine whether they're hesitant allies or reluctant adversaries.

Considering the context, it seems downright sacrilegious to cite "Rashomon" as an inspiration for "Basic."

Sacrilegious, perhaps, but inevitable, considering how shamelessly "Basic" plunders Akira Kurosawa's classic of multiple-viewpoint ambiguity.

At least that's what screenwriter James Vanderbilt ("Darkness Falls") attempts to do.

But there's a big difference between ambiguity and confusion -- and neither Vanderbilt nor director John McTiernan seem capable of separating the two.

Vanderbilt stacks one plot twist atop another, daring us to keep track of the reversals as his unreliable narrators square off against each other.

And "Die Hard" director McTiernan (rebounding -- just a bit -- after bottoming out with last year's misbegotten "Rollerball" remake) tries mightily to provide indispensable distraction, from the dark-and-stormy-night atmosphere to the portentous pacing.

Rather than creating irresistible intrigue, however, the movie's seemingly endless bends in the narrative road send up warning flags, each one alerting us to yet another red herring flopping hopelessly (and helplessly) on the pavement.

That's because none of the characters seems compelling enough to make us care whether they're telling the truth -- or what the consequences might be if they're not.

Some puzzle-box movies -- last year's "Heist," for example, or 1995's Oscar-winning "The Usual Suspects" -- bolster their brain-teasing twists with intriguing characters, making the "Why?" at least as important as the "What?" and the "How?"

In "Basic," however, the essential questions turn out to be "What the heck happened?" and, more pertinently, "Who cares?"

Sure, it's fun -- up to a point -- to watch Travolta strut his smug, naughty-boy stuff, or soak up the too-tough arrogance, however familiar, Jackson radiates. (Those expecting a "Pulp Fiction" reunion, however, will be sorely disappointed; the two share few scenes.)

The shakily accented Nielsen's over-her-head Osbourne serves as the audience stand-in, but even her steadfast pursuit of the apparent truth proves obligatory at best, tiresome at worst.

And once you grasp the movie's methodology -- figure out what's least likely to happen, then wait for it, then wait (in vain) to care -- "Basic" blunders along, proving even the most preposterous convolutions can add up to nothing more than a basic bore.