Basic (2003)

When a military training mission goes deathly wrong, someone is to blame. "Murder is basic", says Tom Hardy (John Travolta), a former Army ranger--not the other Tom Hardy. So, naturally the truth about this mission must be anything but basic. It's up to Hardy to figure out the conflicting accounts of the event. Is there a grand conspiracy beneath the surface? If so, who's in on it?

To reach that point of true understanding, Travolta juggles exuberance and solemnity. In one scene, he's laying on a table, posed like a centerfold; in another, he is enraged because people are lying to him. I was left to wonder why choosing one behavior and toning it down was out of the question.

Luckily Travolta's tendency to ham it up--along with a few other goofy scenes--doesn't sink the film due to effective misdirection that occupies the screen while the positive qualities of Travolta's acting style slowly emerge. However, the ultimate twist exceeds the capacity of the plot's plausibility.