The "Basic" truth is this — "Basic" is not a particularly good John McTiernan film. Nor is it a particularly good John Travolta film. Nor, for that matter, a particularly good Samuel L. Jackson movie.
Not that any of these guys have been involved in anything of note for awhile.
But "Basic" is bound to come as a big disappointment to those who have been eagerly awaiting a big-screen reunion of Travolta and Jackson, who last met onscreen for 1994's "Pulp Fiction." Sadly, in "Basic," they barely share more than five out of a total 95 minutes of film.
To be fair, this military thriller is sort of entertaining in its own ludicrous, hopelessly contrived way. And it may remind some more than just a little of 1996's infinitely better "Courage Under Fire."
Travolta stars as Tom Hardy, a suspended DEA agent who finds himself in Panama. There, he is approached by an old friend (Tim Daly) who asks him to look into the disappearance and apparent deaths of several U.S. Army Rangers.
Hardy discovers that the soldiers were on a training mission in the middle of a downpour at the behest of their no-nonsense commanding officer, Sgt. Nathan West (Jackson), who's also missing.
West's not one of Hardy's favorite people. Neither is Julia Osborne (Connie Nielsen), the local army base's military police chief — and she's not exactly thrilled to be working with Hardy, either.
To get to the truth, they'll need to interview a pair of survivors (Brian Van Holt and Giovanni Ribisi). The trouble is, their stories don't add up.
This material isn't really worthy of McTiernan, whose best films have been more action-based (such as the original "Die Hard" and "The Hunt for Red October"). And the main roles don't exactly requite Travolta and Jackson to stretch. This is the umpteenth variation on the same wisecracking character that Travolta's been playing for years, while Jackson gets to talk tough and do little else. Nielsen tries and fails to adopt a Southern accent, while Ribisi appears to be imitating the Dr. Evil character from the "Austin Powers" movies.
"Basic" is rated R for frequent use of strong sex-related profanity, violence (gunfire, a stabbing, some hand-to-hand combat and explosive mayhem), drug content (use of marijuana, and discussion of drug trade), occasional use of crude sexual slang terms, sexual references and racial epithets and brief gore. Running time: 95 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com