If my eyes roll and I sigh exasperatedly within the first 10 minutes of a film, something is definitely awry, and it's not my popcorn. That said, while watching the movie 'Basic,' I surely broke the record for the number of eye rolls and sighs within the first 10 minutes of a film.I cannot even begin to fathom how the title of the film relates to the actual film, but I can employ the adjective to describe the movie. 'Basic' was basically a clich.

Why John Travolta? Why Samuel L. Jackson? I don't understand why they chose to be in this film. Maybe the idea appealed to them. The film had everything: action, romance and friendship.

The story is set in Panama at an American military base where the hard-headed Sergeant Wes (Jackson) trains soldiers with callous mind games and malicious tactics. And --surprise, surprise -- his soldiers despise him.When he leaves with six soldiers for a training exercise during tropical storm weather, he never returns. Neither do four soldiers. Gripping, isn't it?

But, wait! There's more. The official investigating officer calls for the help of a former soldier (Travolta) trained by Wes. Oh, no. The army had to call someone outside of its top-secret microcosm for assistance with a mystery. What a shocker!

Could there be more? Yes, there could! The top officer playing detective with Travolta is a cute blonde who wears her make-up just right. Hmmm, I wonder what's next.

The typically odd duo are challenged when they interrogate the two soldiers who returned from the escapade, but macho-man Travolta cunningly succeeds in discovering the stories of the men -- two stories which completely contradict each other.

The formulaic story-line may have worked if the script wasn't so ineptly written. Instead, the lines that were obviously begging for a laugh were ignored and served as a digressing blow to the film.

Besides the constant sentiment of predictability that excruciatingly boiled my blood, the poor attempt at juxtaposing humorless banter with engaging action scenes made me feel as though I was on a waterslide that dried up every five minutes.

Toward the grand finale of the film, a twist develops. Oh, deceit! I became intrigued. Until there was another twist, and another. Then a few more came along. What's going on? Maybe I could have figured it out by the time the next twist arrived. But I couldn't. The movie had ended.

Once those precious lights awoke me from my bewildered slumber in la-la land, the first remark I heard was, 'What was that?'

Honestly, I don't know.