Any story with an unreliable narrator has to be about finding a greater truth or the depth of illusion. Actually, Basic has several of these truths because Hardy also interrogates the other survivor, Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi). Ribisi's performance spells out the dangers of trying to imitate David Thewlis and Peter Lorre. And because Kendall's story is a radical departure from Dunbar's -- and none of the other soldiers is alive to dispute their stories -- Hardy has few places to turn.
Basic is so desperate to get to its nonsensical ending that it sinks to having a dying man write a clue with his own blood. And a clue that has to be misread initially. Usually mysteries rely on leaving clues for the viewers to pick up, so that their attention to the story and the unfolding details are rewarded. But Basic keeps inventing plot turns. It is as if the picture is working the same way that Hardy does, trying to get us so confused and frustrated that we give up.
Unfortunately, we do, sighing in resignation and waiting for the ending, which ties things up in the most perfunctory way possible, like a high school version of Mission Impossible.
Probably the reason most people will be interested in Basic is for a reteaming of Travolta and Jackson for the first time since Pulp Fiction. They get only one good moment together, and this picture could have the effect of negating the heat that Pulp Fiction put under them. Travolta may be the only star in movies making choices as bad as Cuba Gooding Jr., and each of the stupendous flops they turn up in is heartbreaking because both actors have such powerful audience rapport, as does Jackson, which makes Basic even more of a disappointment.
Travolta looks better than he has in years in his tight black T-shirt (despite his Mr. Spock haircut), and he turns smoking cigarettes into performance art. (You may concentrate on this because it's all he has going for him.) He doesn't get anything going with Nielsen because their scenes are too on-the-nose, and her indeterminate accent doesn't help.
One glamor shot, in which Travolta leans over to speak with Nielsen in her car as an oscillating glow backlights the rain, offers, and promises, more than the rest of the picture. All the rain in Basic is an elemental problem, though; the constant tapping of the rain has a lulling effect. It is almost saying, "Go to sleep, soon this will all be over."
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