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March 28, 2003
By Veronica Mixon
In
the midst of a hurricane in the Canal
Zone, a U.S. Army covert-operations
team is missing in action. When two
survivors, Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) and
Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi) emerge from
the jungle, the mystery deepens because
neither man will give a statement. The
base commander calls in Tom Hardy (John
Travolta), from the Drug Enforcement
Agency over the objections of the investigator,
Lt. Osborne (Connie Nielsen) who doesn't
trust Hardy because he's possibly corrupt.
Hardy manages to get the men talking
and quickly discovers that the men's
fears involve an illegal cocaine operation
and the abusive behavior of the team
leader Sgt. Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson).
Both Hardy and Osborne are capable integrators
but even they are amazed at the tangled
web of lies that mask the truth in Basic.
This
whodunit uncovers the scary temperaments
of the people who populate the military.
Samuel L. Jackson is incredibly effective
as abrasive Sgt. West who targets the
weakest men in the unit including Kendall,
the spoiled gay son of an Army general.
While the twists and turns of the narrator's
flashbacks keeps Osborne and Hardy jumping,
this Rashomon technique doesn't
quite work because everything gets a
bit muddled. However, director John
McTiernan (Die Hard,The
Hunt for Red October) makes the
opening of the film intensely dark and
intriguing and the sexual tension between
Osborne and Hardy.
John
Travolta (Swordfish, Broken
Arrow) who re-teams with Samuel
L. Jackson (XXX,Rules of
Engagement) briefly for the first
time since "Pulp Fiction."
He presents a strong, physically fit
character that seems very comfortable
with undertow of the military. He's
also well suited to tangle with Connie
Nielsen, the elegant actress who is
best known for Gladiator but
has delivered clever portrayals in One
Hour Photo and The Devil's
Advocate. Jackson, Nielsen and
Travolta deliver hard-hitting, edgy
portraits of military officers but this
film's flaw may be the very technique
meant to make it clever. Solving the
puzzle of who can you trust isn't as
satisfying as it should be.
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