 Basic (1999)
Directed by John McTiernan
Written by James Vanderbilt
Sorry, I can't resist … basic "twisty" post-90s storyline, basic script, basic punchclock performances, basic cast, basic score. John Travolta plays an internal affairs investigator trying to get to the bottom of a "training exercise" gone wrong, and despite all the attempted sleight-of-hand, you know from the get-go that he's in on it.A fine enough thing to watch if you're bored, but "basically" this shifting-perspective shit has been done a thousand times better, a thousand times before … see The Usual Suspects instead, or better yet, Rashomon, you lazy fucko.
Review by Caitlin Champagne |