1. Sutton Guardian Newspaper, Scene Leisure Pages
Film Review – Basic, 98mins, rated 15
‘Complex’ is what this film should have been entitled. Basic could not be more of an irony or further from the truth, because
nothing is what it seems in this military thriller, directed by John McTiernan, writes Samantha Hunter.
Even in the closing moments, things are still not what you thought they seemed and the audience is left wondering what just
happened in the last 98 minutes.
Despite convincing performances from both Travolta and Jackson, starring together for the first time since Pulp Fiction in 1994,
this film tries to be too clever for its own good and basically, it leaves you baffled.
Based around the army, Basic begins with a group of six rangers training in the jungle, in Panama. Drill Sergeant Nathan West
(Samuel L Jackson) is their leader and is despised by most of the group, due to his harsh training measures.
When West is shot in the jungle and only two rangers return to base, Tom Hardy (John Travolta), an ex-army ranger and rogue
DEA agent – who is being investigated for accepting bribes from drug traffickers and who was also trained by the gruelling West
– is called in by Colonel Bill Styles (Tim Daly) to find out where the rangers have disappeared and how West was killed.
Ranger Raymond Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) proceeds to tell his version of events to Hardy and the army’s official investigating
officer Lieutenant Julia Osbourne (Connie Nielsen). Dunbar claims West was killed by a grenade explosion and a flashback of
events unfolds, but some doubts are raised by his story and Hardy decides to delve further.
He tracks down ranger Levi Kendall (Giovani Ribisi), who is in hospital with a bullet wound and gets his version of what
occurred, which contradicts Dunbars’. Kendall says ranger Pike (Taye Diggs) shot West and then boasted about it while they
were in the jungle. Another set of flashbacks ensues.
As Hardy and Osbourne try to piece together the fragments of each person’s stroy to find out the truth about what happened,
and with the suggestion of a secret drugs outfit going on behind the scenes, the audience is left feeling bewildered. With too
many different versions of the same story and everyone telling a conflicting version of events, nothing seems to add up.
The settings and scenery add to the feeling of mystery and confusion as the sky is always black and the rain never stops falling,
much like in Seven. Watch out for the link of the number eight and Colonel Styles at the end because no-one and nothing is
what it seems.
With more twists and turns than a kaleidoscope, the plot needs many hours of discussion after the credits start rolling before
you can make your mind up about who was telling the truth and what really happened. If you happen to have 10 hours to
spare, you may wish to watch Basic three times and discuss it for the next two afterwards to make up your own mind about
what was happening in this dizzy film.
Basic is strictly for those who enjoy the challenge of deciphering films and who can keep up with the fast-paced plot as it flicks
from one track to another.
