BASIC opens. Directed by John McTiernan. Written by James Vanderbilt. Convoluting plot implausabilities seriously handicap murky thriller with John Travolta as a strutting DEA agent conducting a Rashomon-like investigation into the deaths of several soldiers during a Panamanian military exercise. With Samuel L. Jackson, Connie Niesen, Giovanni Ribisi, Taye Diggs and Harry Connick Jr.