A thinly disguised couple, one of the most famous couple of the last decade. They carry the "come as you are" kind of attitude, apparently, so, yes, at least apparently. Looking at it from where I'm standing in 2007 she may become the first USA woman president and he was, for 8 years, one of, if not the most popular American president since JFK and with the benefit of hindsight, he was probably a much more talented politician than JFK. I'm not necessarily a Democrat but I became, eventually, pro Clinton. Junk food and "momathons" infidelity and at times right down vulgarity doesn't blur the intentions of the couple and a couple is what they are. It may not have been John Travolta's most popular performance but for my money it's his best. Emma Thompson deals with Elaine May's superb and telling dialog with all the depth and poignancy, let alone fun, that the character deserved. She is magnificent. Kathy Bate's time bomb character is an unnerving fun to watch. Her Libby is a close relative of her "Misery" Mike Nichols keeps it really domestic. The most important things take place in Motels or kitchens. She wears yellow plastic gloves to do the dishes when big decisions are taken and cleanses her skin with a tissue in front of the preppy Adrian Lester the first time she meets him. They are ordinary southern folks with an extraordinary destiny. She's the one with a sense of history. Imagine that. See it now, again or for the first time before the next elections. It's a very good movie too.
172 Reviews
More than a Satire on Clinton
JamesHitchcock1 November 2006
"Primary Colors" is about a fictional American politician named Jack Stanton and his attempt to obtain the Democratic Party's nomination for the Presidency. At least, it's ostensibly about a fictional politician. On another level, it is a film a clef about a real American politician named Bill Clinton and his attempt to obtain the Democratic Party's nomination for the Presidency in 1992. The parallels between Clinton and Stanton go much deeper than the deliberate similarity of their surnames. Like Clinton, Stanton is the Governor of a small Southern state. Like Clinton, he has an idealistic streak in his nature and a talent for putting his ideas across in a relaxed, folksy way. (Clinton should have inherited Reagan's title of "The Great Communicator"). And, like Clinton, he also has a talent for getting himself enmeshed in scandal, particularly of a sexual nature.
Other players in the Clinton drama have their equivalents in the film. The Hillary-figure is Stanton's wife Susan, ever supportive and forgiving in public but in private much less ready to pardon her husband's misdemeanours. Stanton's campaign chief Richard Jemmons is presumably based upon James Carville, who fulfilled the same role for Clinton. Stanton's early rival Lawrence Harris parallels Paul Tsongas, who initially led the race for the Democratic nomination but later faded. There is a Gennifer Flowers (or Paula Jones) equivalent in the shape of Cashmere McCarthy, who claims that she had an affair with Stanton.
Although Stanton is, in one sense, the pivotal character (if he were not running for President there would be no film), in another sense the main character is one of his campaign team, Henry Burton, the grandson of a noted black civil rights activist, as the action is seen though his eyes. Henry is an idealistic young man who is caught in two minds about his boss. On the one hand he admires Stanton for his drive and energy and his sincere determination to improve the lot of ordinary people. On the other hand, he is disillusioned with the corruption involved in politics and with the dirty tricks played both against Stanton and on his behalf. The audience are often in two minds about Stanton as well, as he seems to be a fifty-fifty mixture of sincerity and sleaze.
I have never read the novel (originally credited to "Anonymous", but now known to have been written by Joe Klein) on which the film is based, but from what I have heard Stanton was considerably less sympathetic in the book than he appears in the film. (Perhaps traditionally liberal Hollywood did not want to give the Democratic Party too rough a ride). As portrayed by John Travolta, Stanton is in many ways a likable figure, whose flaws are outweighed by his good qualities. Besides his sincere idealism he also shows courage (he tells an audience of unemployed New England shipyard workers that there are no easy answers to their economic problems). In the first half of the film, in particular, it seemed that the film-makers wanted to acquit Stanton (and by implication Clinton) of any serious wrongdoing. Cashmere McCarthy, for example, is exposed as a liar (her surname is presumably borrowed from the notorious Senator who specialised in smearing his opponents) and a supposedly incriminating tape as a fake. Clinton must have wished that the Flowers, Jones and Lewinsky affairs could have been explained away as easily. There is a reference to Whitewater in the shape of the "Freshwater affair", but this is attributed not to Stanton but to one of his opponents.
In the second half of the film, the plot starts to diverge more from real events. Stanton is hit by a second sex scandal, potentially more damaging than any of those Clinton faced, as it involves allegations that he fathered a child by an under-aged girl. In reality, Clinton had a fairly easy ride to the Democratic nomination, but the film-makers obviously wanted to introduce a greater element of drama, as Stanton faces a tough challenge from a late entrant in the race, Fred Picker, the Governor of Florida. (Picker is not based on any actual politician). The climax of the story comes when the Stanton camp discover evidence that Picker, hitherto regarded as scandal-free, has been involved in cocaine-taking and a gay relationship. This presents Stanton and his aides with a moral dilemma; do they use this information to discredit Picker or do they bury it (with the attendant risk that the Republicans might discover it if Picker becomes the Democratic candidate)?
The film is helped by some excellent acting. Travolta is an actor who seems constantly to be re-inventing himself, particularly since "Pulp Fiction" took his career in a new direction, and Stanton is one of his best performances, clearly based upon Clinton but different enough to emerge as a character in his own right. Larry Hagman makes a plausibly charismatic Picker, proving that there is more to him than JR and "I Dream of Jeannie". Special mentions must also go to Emma Thompson's long-suffering Susan, Billy Bob Thornton's Jemmons, a hard-bitten, cynical practitioner of Realpolitik, and, above all, Kathy Bates as Libby, another Stanton aide. Some actresses would have struggled to make Libby- a tough, foul-mouthed lesbian recently released from a mental hospital who at one point threatens to shoot a man in the genitals- anything more than an over-the-top caricature, but Bates manages the difficult task of making her a believable character. Her "Best Supporting Actress" nomination was well deserved.
One reviewer complains that "Travolta does a poor Clinton impression", but despite its obvious relation to real events, "Primary Colors" is more than just a satire on Bill Clinton and his associates. It is a wider satire on American politics in general and a drama that asks some difficult questions about political morality. 7/10
Other players in the Clinton drama have their equivalents in the film. The Hillary-figure is Stanton's wife Susan, ever supportive and forgiving in public but in private much less ready to pardon her husband's misdemeanours. Stanton's campaign chief Richard Jemmons is presumably based upon James Carville, who fulfilled the same role for Clinton. Stanton's early rival Lawrence Harris parallels Paul Tsongas, who initially led the race for the Democratic nomination but later faded. There is a Gennifer Flowers (or Paula Jones) equivalent in the shape of Cashmere McCarthy, who claims that she had an affair with Stanton.
Although Stanton is, in one sense, the pivotal character (if he were not running for President there would be no film), in another sense the main character is one of his campaign team, Henry Burton, the grandson of a noted black civil rights activist, as the action is seen though his eyes. Henry is an idealistic young man who is caught in two minds about his boss. On the one hand he admires Stanton for his drive and energy and his sincere determination to improve the lot of ordinary people. On the other hand, he is disillusioned with the corruption involved in politics and with the dirty tricks played both against Stanton and on his behalf. The audience are often in two minds about Stanton as well, as he seems to be a fifty-fifty mixture of sincerity and sleaze.
I have never read the novel (originally credited to "Anonymous", but now known to have been written by Joe Klein) on which the film is based, but from what I have heard Stanton was considerably less sympathetic in the book than he appears in the film. (Perhaps traditionally liberal Hollywood did not want to give the Democratic Party too rough a ride). As portrayed by John Travolta, Stanton is in many ways a likable figure, whose flaws are outweighed by his good qualities. Besides his sincere idealism he also shows courage (he tells an audience of unemployed New England shipyard workers that there are no easy answers to their economic problems). In the first half of the film, in particular, it seemed that the film-makers wanted to acquit Stanton (and by implication Clinton) of any serious wrongdoing. Cashmere McCarthy, for example, is exposed as a liar (her surname is presumably borrowed from the notorious Senator who specialised in smearing his opponents) and a supposedly incriminating tape as a fake. Clinton must have wished that the Flowers, Jones and Lewinsky affairs could have been explained away as easily. There is a reference to Whitewater in the shape of the "Freshwater affair", but this is attributed not to Stanton but to one of his opponents.
In the second half of the film, the plot starts to diverge more from real events. Stanton is hit by a second sex scandal, potentially more damaging than any of those Clinton faced, as it involves allegations that he fathered a child by an under-aged girl. In reality, Clinton had a fairly easy ride to the Democratic nomination, but the film-makers obviously wanted to introduce a greater element of drama, as Stanton faces a tough challenge from a late entrant in the race, Fred Picker, the Governor of Florida. (Picker is not based on any actual politician). The climax of the story comes when the Stanton camp discover evidence that Picker, hitherto regarded as scandal-free, has been involved in cocaine-taking and a gay relationship. This presents Stanton and his aides with a moral dilemma; do they use this information to discredit Picker or do they bury it (with the attendant risk that the Republicans might discover it if Picker becomes the Democratic candidate)?
The film is helped by some excellent acting. Travolta is an actor who seems constantly to be re-inventing himself, particularly since "Pulp Fiction" took his career in a new direction, and Stanton is one of his best performances, clearly based upon Clinton but different enough to emerge as a character in his own right. Larry Hagman makes a plausibly charismatic Picker, proving that there is more to him than JR and "I Dream of Jeannie". Special mentions must also go to Emma Thompson's long-suffering Susan, Billy Bob Thornton's Jemmons, a hard-bitten, cynical practitioner of Realpolitik, and, above all, Kathy Bates as Libby, another Stanton aide. Some actresses would have struggled to make Libby- a tough, foul-mouthed lesbian recently released from a mental hospital who at one point threatens to shoot a man in the genitals- anything more than an over-the-top caricature, but Bates manages the difficult task of making her a believable character. Her "Best Supporting Actress" nomination was well deserved.
One reviewer complains that "Travolta does a poor Clinton impression", but despite its obvious relation to real events, "Primary Colors" is more than just a satire on Bill Clinton and his associates. It is a wider satire on American politics in general and a drama that asks some difficult questions about political morality. 7/10
Some great group dynamics, and solid, if predictable.
secondtake13 September 2010
Primary Colors (1998)
This starts off really great, and gets the flavor of a real campaign, without too much Hollywood hype (campaigns have their own kind of falseness, which is played up here). John Travolta not only hits it just right as a feeling and determined candidate, he also nails Bill Clinton pretty well, too. I don't suppose Emma Thompson is supposed to match Hillary quite as well, but she's a perfect running mate, and throw in Billy Bob (Thornton) as a sidekick and you have a really solid working trio.
But it doesn't quite keep the focus or momentum, or honesty, of the opening scenes. Or humor, sometimes. (This is a comedy, by the way, and director Mike Nichols knows comedy, as does his screenwriter and longtime collaborator, Elaine May. They used to do stand up comedy together in the 1950s!)
What begins as a kind of revelation and interior exploration digresses into more and more clichés of what campaigns do, and what they have to do (sleaze wise) to succeed. We know this stuff. It isn't the facts that enchant us, it's the exceptions to the facts, and it's the nuances between them. It never quite flags, though twenty minutes less screen time sounded good by the end. And Travolta and Thompson hold up their roles consistently.
The real saving grace in the second half is the bursting on the scene of Kathy Bates, who is herself at her best. It might be the best Kathy Bates Kathy Bates has ever done, including some impassioned, tearful stuff. The opposing candidate is remarkably convincing--you even want to vote for him--played by Larry Hagman. On the other hand, the young clerk and campaign manager Adrian Lester is a bit too restrained and dull to make him even noticeable.
Nichols is best when he gets two or three or four people interacting as real people, with flaws and intensity and passion (as in "The Graduate" and "Closer"). And those moments here are terrific, and sometimes hilarious, and make the rest easily worthwhile.
This starts off really great, and gets the flavor of a real campaign, without too much Hollywood hype (campaigns have their own kind of falseness, which is played up here). John Travolta not only hits it just right as a feeling and determined candidate, he also nails Bill Clinton pretty well, too. I don't suppose Emma Thompson is supposed to match Hillary quite as well, but she's a perfect running mate, and throw in Billy Bob (Thornton) as a sidekick and you have a really solid working trio.
But it doesn't quite keep the focus or momentum, or honesty, of the opening scenes. Or humor, sometimes. (This is a comedy, by the way, and director Mike Nichols knows comedy, as does his screenwriter and longtime collaborator, Elaine May. They used to do stand up comedy together in the 1950s!)
What begins as a kind of revelation and interior exploration digresses into more and more clichés of what campaigns do, and what they have to do (sleaze wise) to succeed. We know this stuff. It isn't the facts that enchant us, it's the exceptions to the facts, and it's the nuances between them. It never quite flags, though twenty minutes less screen time sounded good by the end. And Travolta and Thompson hold up their roles consistently.
The real saving grace in the second half is the bursting on the scene of Kathy Bates, who is herself at her best. It might be the best Kathy Bates Kathy Bates has ever done, including some impassioned, tearful stuff. The opposing candidate is remarkably convincing--you even want to vote for him--played by Larry Hagman. On the other hand, the young clerk and campaign manager Adrian Lester is a bit too restrained and dull to make him even noticeable.
Nichols is best when he gets two or three or four people interacting as real people, with flaws and intensity and passion (as in "The Graduate" and "Closer"). And those moments here are terrific, and sometimes hilarious, and make the rest easily worthwhile.
Funny, well-acted, well-written
Islanda25 May 2000
Having heard the book was an unbridled attack on Clinton, I was afraid this film would be the same, but it wasn't. "Primary Colors" was definitely better than I thought it would be.
First, there was Elaine May's script: Funny, well-written, lean, tender at moments, never taking things to the camp level, like so many modern Hollywood movies do when it doesn't work. And it wouldn't have worked for this movie. The thing that kept me watching was that, like Henry, I *did* believe in Jack Stanton, or at least I wanted to. The tender moments, like those at the beginning in the literacy class, kind of endeared me to the Stanton character and made me understand how Burton was drawn in so irrevocably.
Then, there was the acting: marvelous. Travolta, Thompson, Bates: need I say more? Thompson's underlying, clipped accent adds a brittle note to her delivery that fits right in with Susan's repression and humiliation. Travolta was just nice enough to make you believe in him (although, in my opinion, he was ultimately unable to fully portray that "je ne sais quoi" that Clinton possesses, which makes him so charming to many). Bates was riveting and harrowing as the faded liberal clinging to her ideals.
But in addition to the "name actors" there were others who were fantastic: Adrian Lester, as the tortured campaign aide, wants to believe but feels unsure of Stanton's worth as a candidate. Maura Tierney (best known as the wife in "Liar Liar") as the bubbling, funny sidekick to Lester (probably based on Dee Dee Myers), lights up every scene she's in. Larry Hagman, in a wonderful cameo, plays Stanton's opponent and his foil in the morals department.
Billy Bob Thornton plays the James Carville role, and I wasn't sure what he added to the film. Since I constantly compared his character unfavorably to James Carville (the Thornton character was shown as a real rotter, sexually harassing aides, etc.), I'm not sure if my dislike of Thornton was more my dislike of his character than that of his acting.
The production of this film also added to its wonderful feel: the Governour's Mansion, the local ribs place, the constant red/white/blue theme (sometimes it seemed like a Kieslowski film), all of it added to the ambiance. I was not surprised to learn that the Michael Ballhaus, the cinematographer, also filmed the sumptuous "Age of Innocence." Quality tells.
Mike Nichols's directing was also effective: in one especially harrowing scene, Emma Thompson's tormented face fills up the foreground, while Bates's character (in the background) rips into the Stantons' morals. I almost felt like I was at the theater.
This film made me think about Clinton as well as politicians in general. What is admirable, what is not acceptable, what is it we really *want* in our public officials? I don't think "Primary Colors" will change anyone's opinion of the Clintons (in the final analysis, it isn't about them at all) -- but it is a very funny as well as thought-provoking look at modern American politics.
First, there was Elaine May's script: Funny, well-written, lean, tender at moments, never taking things to the camp level, like so many modern Hollywood movies do when it doesn't work. And it wouldn't have worked for this movie. The thing that kept me watching was that, like Henry, I *did* believe in Jack Stanton, or at least I wanted to. The tender moments, like those at the beginning in the literacy class, kind of endeared me to the Stanton character and made me understand how Burton was drawn in so irrevocably.
Then, there was the acting: marvelous. Travolta, Thompson, Bates: need I say more? Thompson's underlying, clipped accent adds a brittle note to her delivery that fits right in with Susan's repression and humiliation. Travolta was just nice enough to make you believe in him (although, in my opinion, he was ultimately unable to fully portray that "je ne sais quoi" that Clinton possesses, which makes him so charming to many). Bates was riveting and harrowing as the faded liberal clinging to her ideals.
But in addition to the "name actors" there were others who were fantastic: Adrian Lester, as the tortured campaign aide, wants to believe but feels unsure of Stanton's worth as a candidate. Maura Tierney (best known as the wife in "Liar Liar") as the bubbling, funny sidekick to Lester (probably based on Dee Dee Myers), lights up every scene she's in. Larry Hagman, in a wonderful cameo, plays Stanton's opponent and his foil in the morals department.
Billy Bob Thornton plays the James Carville role, and I wasn't sure what he added to the film. Since I constantly compared his character unfavorably to James Carville (the Thornton character was shown as a real rotter, sexually harassing aides, etc.), I'm not sure if my dislike of Thornton was more my dislike of his character than that of his acting.
The production of this film also added to its wonderful feel: the Governour's Mansion, the local ribs place, the constant red/white/blue theme (sometimes it seemed like a Kieslowski film), all of it added to the ambiance. I was not surprised to learn that the Michael Ballhaus, the cinematographer, also filmed the sumptuous "Age of Innocence." Quality tells.
Mike Nichols's directing was also effective: in one especially harrowing scene, Emma Thompson's tormented face fills up the foreground, while Bates's character (in the background) rips into the Stantons' morals. I almost felt like I was at the theater.
This film made me think about Clinton as well as politicians in general. What is admirable, what is not acceptable, what is it we really *want* in our public officials? I don't think "Primary Colors" will change anyone's opinion of the Clintons (in the final analysis, it isn't about them at all) -- but it is a very funny as well as thought-provoking look at modern American politics.
Good movie struggles to get out of facile shell
SKG-24 February 1999
I was never a big fan of the novel by Joe Klein that this movie is based on. Like Clinton, it seemed more slick and facile than satirical and insightful. There was a good story trying to get out, but it didn't. The movie manages to bring more of that story to the forefront, like the idea that even a nominee with good ideas and good heart needs to do dirty deeds to get elected because of how screwed up the American system is. I think Kathy Bates also deserves all the praise she's been getting, and Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Maura Tierney are also good.
Travolta was a problem. Considering how much the filmmakers tried to distance themselves between their story and Clinton's real-life troubles, this seemed little more than a slick impression, and I found it distracting. I also found missed some of the stuff they cut from the novel, like Thompson's indiscretion with Adrian Lester's character, and the relationship between him and Tierney didn't have the context here that it did in the novel. And again, I was left wondering, "If you hate him that much, why stay?" Overall, an admirable effort, and maybe I'll be more receptive once this whole impeachment garbage fades from memory, but I still found it wanting.
Travolta was a problem. Considering how much the filmmakers tried to distance themselves between their story and Clinton's real-life troubles, this seemed little more than a slick impression, and I found it distracting. I also found missed some of the stuff they cut from the novel, like Thompson's indiscretion with Adrian Lester's character, and the relationship between him and Tierney didn't have the context here that it did in the novel. And again, I was left wondering, "If you hate him that much, why stay?" Overall, an admirable effort, and maybe I'll be more receptive once this whole impeachment garbage fades from memory, but I still found it wanting.
"We can do incredible things. We can change this country."
johnny-0810 September 2007
Story of this movie is about Governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta), who is running for president. Stanton is democratic candidate and the whole character is based on Bill Clinton, former candidate and president of USA. The entire movie is based on sex scandal that treats to rule Governor Stanton out of the race for president. Everything that happens in the movie is seen through the eyes of each character and specially through the eyes of young Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), a grandson of a black civil rights leader and Stanton's campaign leader. With Henry in Stanton's team there are also his wife Susan (Emma Thompson), Richard Jemmons (Billy Bob Thornton), Daisy Green (Maura Tierney) and Libby Holden (Kathy Bates), who defends president candidates by stopping the attacks from all comers and also digging out the past of major opponents.
"Primary Colors" is well made movie because it shows us what is man capable of doing to get to a higher position. It also shows us what games politicians are playing behind the closed doors and also how many scandals can one man have. The character of Henry Burton is excellent because he is a young man who is trying to find someone who still believes in the same ideals as he does. He's hoping that Stanton is that man, different from others. But Stanton is a man who slept with 17-year old babysitter, teacher (librarian) in the school and he also had a long relationship with one woman. All of that is Stanton and he became president. If it wasn't Stanton some other man would became president, maybe an ex drug addict or a man who likes to drink, but definitely not someone who is clean. Because no one is clean. These sort of people are running America (from Clinton's sex scandal to todays idiotic person of George Bush) and not only America but every other land. In movie Stanton says that even Abraham Lincoln wasn't innocent and he was surely one of the greatest people in history of America. Politicians are all same all around the world.
Casting is brilliant. Travolta is great with that accent, Kathy Bates is always superb, just like Emma Thompson and Billy Bob Thornton. Adrian Lester really surprised me in positive way.
My favorite line is: "I'm going to tell you something really outrageous. I'm going to tell you the truth." Yeah, right. People would say everything to get what they want and in this case we are talking about votes.
"Primary Colors" is well made movie because it shows us what is man capable of doing to get to a higher position. It also shows us what games politicians are playing behind the closed doors and also how many scandals can one man have. The character of Henry Burton is excellent because he is a young man who is trying to find someone who still believes in the same ideals as he does. He's hoping that Stanton is that man, different from others. But Stanton is a man who slept with 17-year old babysitter, teacher (librarian) in the school and he also had a long relationship with one woman. All of that is Stanton and he became president. If it wasn't Stanton some other man would became president, maybe an ex drug addict or a man who likes to drink, but definitely not someone who is clean. Because no one is clean. These sort of people are running America (from Clinton's sex scandal to todays idiotic person of George Bush) and not only America but every other land. In movie Stanton says that even Abraham Lincoln wasn't innocent and he was surely one of the greatest people in history of America. Politicians are all same all around the world.
Casting is brilliant. Travolta is great with that accent, Kathy Bates is always superb, just like Emma Thompson and Billy Bob Thornton. Adrian Lester really surprised me in positive way.
My favorite line is: "I'm going to tell you something really outrageous. I'm going to tell you the truth." Yeah, right. People would say everything to get what they want and in this case we are talking about votes.
Effective and interesting political satire
The_Void1 August 2004
Primary Colours follows the story of the presidential campaign of Jack Stanton, a democratic candidate. John Travolta gives a great performance as Jack Stanton, a character in which the parallels between him and former US president, Bill Clinton are obvious and almost certainly deliberate, which explains the sex scandal element of the movie. The campaign is seen through the eyes of a young campaign manager; Henry Burton, a man with ideals and a man that believes Jack Stanton is the 'real thing', and America's best presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy. The film is a satire on the world of politics from the director of The Graduate; Mike Nichols, and it works very well.
One of the best things about this movie is its script. As you might expect from a social satire, the script is sharp and witty and there's some genuinely funny dialogue, as well as some observant criticisms of the way that the country is ran. Some of the humour in the film also manages to be quite dark, such as the part where Jack is on a radio show, debating with his rival; who puts the phone down in the middle of the debate, to which Jack responds with laughter over the way that his rival has dropped out of the debate. Only to find he has suffered a heart attack. Also of note is the way that the film is very American, too American, in fact; shown by the way that the characters sing American songs, and talk highly of the country, it's almost sickly, but it works in the satirist content of the movie. The script does, however, become a little over the top at times, and it feels like extra bits are being added in to make the it seem like more is going on, and I feel that the movie would be more efficient if the script has been trimmed a little; but it's a small criticism, and the movie runs smoothly enough.
Aside from John Travolta, who gives one of the best performances of his career in this movie, the rest of the cast is good too, and includes performances from Emma Thompson, who makes a great leading lady as Susan Stanton, Kathy Bates; who is gratuitously over the top in her usual electric style, as well as Adrian Lester, an English man that is without doubt the most 'American' character in the movie, and finally; Maura Tierney, who was in the background for a lot of the film but still managed to make an impression as one of the campaign helpers. She's not bad looking either, which is a bonus.
Overall, Primary Colours is as good as political satires get; it has everything, from the parallels to real life, to a sharp script, to a great cast and the whole piece comes together nicely as a biting satire on the USA's electoral system.
One of the best things about this movie is its script. As you might expect from a social satire, the script is sharp and witty and there's some genuinely funny dialogue, as well as some observant criticisms of the way that the country is ran. Some of the humour in the film also manages to be quite dark, such as the part where Jack is on a radio show, debating with his rival; who puts the phone down in the middle of the debate, to which Jack responds with laughter over the way that his rival has dropped out of the debate. Only to find he has suffered a heart attack. Also of note is the way that the film is very American, too American, in fact; shown by the way that the characters sing American songs, and talk highly of the country, it's almost sickly, but it works in the satirist content of the movie. The script does, however, become a little over the top at times, and it feels like extra bits are being added in to make the it seem like more is going on, and I feel that the movie would be more efficient if the script has been trimmed a little; but it's a small criticism, and the movie runs smoothly enough.
Aside from John Travolta, who gives one of the best performances of his career in this movie, the rest of the cast is good too, and includes performances from Emma Thompson, who makes a great leading lady as Susan Stanton, Kathy Bates; who is gratuitously over the top in her usual electric style, as well as Adrian Lester, an English man that is without doubt the most 'American' character in the movie, and finally; Maura Tierney, who was in the background for a lot of the film but still managed to make an impression as one of the campaign helpers. She's not bad looking either, which is a bonus.
Overall, Primary Colours is as good as political satires get; it has everything, from the parallels to real life, to a sharp script, to a great cast and the whole piece comes together nicely as a biting satire on the USA's electoral system.
The Film à clef version of the War Room
ironhorse_iv11 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This Film à clef is clearly thinly disguised as a stand in for Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential primary election campaign. Not even the book written by an anonymous author can hide the facts that it's closely mirrors Bill Clinton's attempt to win over the people dismight conflicts such as his affairs, his participation in Vietnam War era protest, and others. Every thing about the film, just about speaks of him, even the actor playing an Southern governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta) who mimics the president southern drawn, and charm. It's hard not to see him in Jack. The movie starts with an idealistic former congressional worker, Henry Burton AKA George Stephanopoulos (Adrian Lester), whom joins the campaign whoms been impressed by Stanton's genuine warmth and empathy with people. He joins Stanton's inner circle of political advisers: Stanton's formidable wife, Susan Stanton AKA Hillary Clinton (Emma Thompson). Emme Thompson plays the shrewdness role well, as a women whom dreams and hope are riding on a man whom does mistake after mistake, nearly derailing his chances to be president. She doesn't mind chewing him out or bailing him. She always doesn't mind the womanizing that takes it's toll on her, as long as she wins in the end. Henry also meets ruthless, redneck political strategist Richard Jemmons AKA James Carville (Billy Bob Thornton) whom character is so unlikeable, it's hurt the film. The character is too mopey, drunk, sexual harasser and indecisive that it doesn't match the entertaining Carville of the documentary "The War Room,". It's not Carville. It's a downer character nobody ask for. Lastly he meets tough, but unbalanced Libby Holden AKA Betsey Wright/ Vince Foster (Kathy Bates.) Kathy Bates gives one of her best performance in this role, as she able to show strong emotion when needed, while also breaking down heart-broken. The film get good when tackles Henry and Libby are forced to seek out information about a rival politician. It's really shows how deep, far and twisted, people will go to dig to make sure their candidate wins while also showing how deeply disillusioned, they can be with the whole political process. Thus is each character tested: Do we do the right thing for the wrong reason, the wrong thing for the right reason? How low do we go? If we go too low, can we ever get back up? Both of them are forced to choose between idealism and realism when looking up and helping out a political contender. Kathy Bates' Libby Holden is the movie's most outstanding character and the one who most stirringly articulates its frustrations about the candidate. The film's single best and most serious scene, arriving in its abruptly melodramatic third act, finds Libby desperately begging the Stantons to assess their campaign ethics. It's heart breaking speech is brilliant. The satire film does a good job following the book's plot. I think Joe Klein would be proud. Oops-- I meant the anonymous author. Much of the charm of the Mike Nichols film is just looking at the array of vivid caricatures actor playing real-life people, but it's lacks to give us a great main character. Henry is a bland, passive presence occupying a good deal of screen time. Adrian Lester is great, but it's doesn't have that George Stephanopoulos charm to him. The boy scout works for a while, he knows Stanton is somewhat a phony since the beginning, but it's doesn't seem to matter to him. So why does the political process makes him disillusioned, if he knew all the long that this might be stressful? He knew what he was putting himself in. I guess he didn't know how much he was willing to take. It suppose to be by the end time, he comes a time when he must make peace with the idea that the purest of causes may be advanced by the most impure of champions, but he knew that before getting in. This is what hurts the film. It's not like Mr. Smith goes to Washington here, he knew in advance, how ugly it is. Does he change it for the better? No. Does he keep his moral ground? No. Henry doesn't learn anything new, but he does get a new job. The movie is slow-pace, funny at times, but hard to watch, cause how depressing it is. It exposes politics for what it is. A ugly, disgusting, game where idealism is crush, disappointment kicks in, and when you come out of it. You feel like you tired of it. That's what happen to the film. It gets tiresome after one watch. It's like the elections. Good for one night every four years.
An excellent political satire.
philblyghton6 January 2005
The much under-rated Primary Colors represents the zenith of its genre: a consistently excellent political satire armed with a stellar cast, an involving, intricate plot, and some of the finest direction in recent times from the sporadic (yet always reliable) Mike Nichols. John Travolta's portrayal of a Clinton-esquire Southern governor with a weakness for women and doughnuts is note perfect, encapsulating the flawed yet undoubtedly brilliant Jack Stanton with effortless flair and charisma. Travolta is ably supported by English character actors Emma Thompson and big screen debutant Adrian Lester, as well as an Oscar nominated Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton and a resurgent Larry Hagman.
The film is, in essence, a chronology of Stanton's rise of the political ladder and the struggles encountered by his vibrant team in keeping their man in the race, despite numerous setbacks and tragedies along the way. The script gives Travolta a perfect platform to express the very human emotions that both constrain and encourage us: his early speeches (particularly at an adult literacy centre) are punctuated by salient (yet entirely falsified) anecdotes, and were are given equal insight into Stanton the man and Stanton the politician. Thus the film's fundamental paradox arises: the audience is clearly conditioned to sympathise with Stanton as a result of his remarkable eloquence, yet we are frequently undercut by revelations of sex scandals, endless untruths and the often heartless pragmatism he embarks upon. This conflict for the audience is superbly manipulated so that, at the film's conclusion, we are unsure as to what our own emotions should be. Few films manage to pull this off: fewer with the nuanced skill of Nichols' political odyssey.
I want to add a few words about the female performances in the film. Emma Thompson, as the Hilary Clinton of the the cast, nails both the accent and mannerisms of her model with a convincing determination. Her character is often the mediator among the campaign team, yet there is a ruthlessness about her, a quiet conviction in her actions that her husband is clearly sustained by. Kathy Bates is the unhinged lesbian media consultant who is drafted in to nullify the potent threat of negative media reporting. She clearly gets all the best lines (a prize shared with the equally crazy Billy Bob Thornton character) including a memorable reference to Stanton's string of lovers as "sorry trash bins": scrupulous editing on my part here. At the film's conclusion, Bates comes to the fore, spelling out the impossible conflict between what is politically right and what is humanly right with an intensity that few actors could accomplish. Her subsequent Oscar nomination was well deserved and she was unlucky to be pitted against a triumphant Judi Dench in the Best Supporting Actress category.
That said, this is Travolta's movie. This is a career-defining performance from an actor unfortunately sullied by a series of mind-numbing duds (Battlefield Earth, anyone?), yet had he chosen his roles more wisely (as, say, Pacino has done) a more creditable media image would most certainly have been forthcoming.
Don't be put off by its subject matter: this is film making at its best and is a credit to its highly talented cast and crew.
10/10
The film is, in essence, a chronology of Stanton's rise of the political ladder and the struggles encountered by his vibrant team in keeping their man in the race, despite numerous setbacks and tragedies along the way. The script gives Travolta a perfect platform to express the very human emotions that both constrain and encourage us: his early speeches (particularly at an adult literacy centre) are punctuated by salient (yet entirely falsified) anecdotes, and were are given equal insight into Stanton the man and Stanton the politician. Thus the film's fundamental paradox arises: the audience is clearly conditioned to sympathise with Stanton as a result of his remarkable eloquence, yet we are frequently undercut by revelations of sex scandals, endless untruths and the often heartless pragmatism he embarks upon. This conflict for the audience is superbly manipulated so that, at the film's conclusion, we are unsure as to what our own emotions should be. Few films manage to pull this off: fewer with the nuanced skill of Nichols' political odyssey.
I want to add a few words about the female performances in the film. Emma Thompson, as the Hilary Clinton of the the cast, nails both the accent and mannerisms of her model with a convincing determination. Her character is often the mediator among the campaign team, yet there is a ruthlessness about her, a quiet conviction in her actions that her husband is clearly sustained by. Kathy Bates is the unhinged lesbian media consultant who is drafted in to nullify the potent threat of negative media reporting. She clearly gets all the best lines (a prize shared with the equally crazy Billy Bob Thornton character) including a memorable reference to Stanton's string of lovers as "sorry trash bins": scrupulous editing on my part here. At the film's conclusion, Bates comes to the fore, spelling out the impossible conflict between what is politically right and what is humanly right with an intensity that few actors could accomplish. Her subsequent Oscar nomination was well deserved and she was unlucky to be pitted against a triumphant Judi Dench in the Best Supporting Actress category.
That said, this is Travolta's movie. This is a career-defining performance from an actor unfortunately sullied by a series of mind-numbing duds (Battlefield Earth, anyone?), yet had he chosen his roles more wisely (as, say, Pacino has done) a more creditable media image would most certainly have been forthcoming.
Don't be put off by its subject matter: this is film making at its best and is a credit to its highly talented cast and crew.
10/10
Awkward mix of drama and satire
Mr-Fusion8 April 2023
"Primary Colors", a portrait of the gladhanding philandering politician on the road to the Oval Office; I'd always heard this movie described as a Bill Clinton analog, and it does not go out of its way to avoid that comparison. It is a uniformly well-acted movie and a high quality Mike Nichols production, but the overall narrative is disjointed. So much of the film thrives on "Wag the Dog" energy (with a sizable helping of "West Wing" idealism), but runs out of steam in the third act before taking a suddenly dark turn in the final moments.
Everyone involved here put in some real effort, but it was kind of a surreal viewing experience. It's well-made and a stark reminder of how tame '90s politics were, but bizarre nonetheless.
Everyone involved here put in some real effort, but it was kind of a surreal viewing experience. It's well-made and a stark reminder of how tame '90s politics were, but bizarre nonetheless.
Campaign Fatigue
slokes5 March 2005
Sometimes a dream movie project with all the right buzz, a super cast, and a hot director manages to fail anyway. Such was the case with "Primary Colors." Based on the 1996 novel written by Joe Klein that fictionalized the growing pains of Bill Clinton's run for the Democratic presidential nomination four years before, the movie stars John Travolta as Gov. Jack Stanton, a compulsive eater and sleeper-around, and his long-suffering, highly ambitious wife, Susan, played by Emma Thompson.
As seen through the eyes of idealistic campaign worker Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), Stanton falls from one boiling pot to another, from taped conversations with a bimbo who is clearly based on Gennifer Flowers to other scandals with less obvious a Clintonesque parallel, especially one involving the underage daughter of Stanton's favorite barbecue chef. For Stanton, winning the nomination is everything, and Burton finds himself struggling to keep his head up over the sludge.
While the performances range from pretty good (Lester, Thompson, Kathy Bates as a "dustbusting" lesbian working damage control on Stanton's character miscues) to fair (Travolta imitating Phil Hartman imitating Clinton, though giving good presence) to flat-out lost in the editing room (Maura Tierney and Billy Bob Thornton, solid as campaign officials until suddenly pulling Houdinis in the final third), the real problem is the script. Eileen May's adaptation struggles to represent every plot twist in the novel's Byzantine storyline, but it fails to capture the wonderfully jaded, wise, and amusing narrative voice of Klein's book, and squeezes in so much the end result is an overcooked soufflé of melodrama.
While "Primary Colors" the novel works as an over-the-top black farce with hints of real pathos, "Primary Colors" the film gives us a lot of agony and little of the fun. At nearly two-and-a-half hours, this makes for tough sledding.
May and director Mike Nichols were the team that did "The Birdcage," a fine, outrageous comedy, two years before. "Primary Colors" would seem a worthy candidate for the same light touch, but except for two sequences, one involving Rob Reiner as the soporific host of the radio show "Schmooze For Jews" and the other with Tony Shalhoub offering the goods on one of Stanton's opponents, you don't get that here. There's a lot of screaming instead, and talking, and more screaming, and more talking. Staffers blob out on hotel beds and whine about what's going wrong, crises are averted, then something else goes wrong. And everything is played soooo seriously.
The movie takes some liberties from the book, not good ones. An outrageously funny Al Sharpton character who rags on Burton for neglecting his black roots is omitted. Tierney's Daisy Green character is locked in a romance with Burton that is central to the novel (will ambition trump love?) but just presented and abandoned, along with Tierney, in the movie. Most important, the novel's ambiguous ending is spelled out with a scene that feels flat and self-congratulatory.
The truth is Stanton is hard to place as a good or bad guy, not because he's supposed to be Clinton, but because he's not Clinton. He's his own character, complex, decent, venal, idealistic, funny, greedy, selfish, and worth valuing for all that. Travolta gets the smoothness, but not the underneath part. Nor do Nichols and May, a great comedy team back in the 1960s who seem, for at least this one film, to have misplaced their senses of humor.
If I hadn't read the book, I might have liked this more. Maybe I'm docking the film more than I should that way. But given how condensed everything is, I probably wouldn't have understood the movie without reading the book. "Primary Colors" the book is full of life, but the film adaptation never breathes. If John Travolta really was Bill Clinton, he never would have made it out of New Hampshire.
As seen through the eyes of idealistic campaign worker Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), Stanton falls from one boiling pot to another, from taped conversations with a bimbo who is clearly based on Gennifer Flowers to other scandals with less obvious a Clintonesque parallel, especially one involving the underage daughter of Stanton's favorite barbecue chef. For Stanton, winning the nomination is everything, and Burton finds himself struggling to keep his head up over the sludge.
While the performances range from pretty good (Lester, Thompson, Kathy Bates as a "dustbusting" lesbian working damage control on Stanton's character miscues) to fair (Travolta imitating Phil Hartman imitating Clinton, though giving good presence) to flat-out lost in the editing room (Maura Tierney and Billy Bob Thornton, solid as campaign officials until suddenly pulling Houdinis in the final third), the real problem is the script. Eileen May's adaptation struggles to represent every plot twist in the novel's Byzantine storyline, but it fails to capture the wonderfully jaded, wise, and amusing narrative voice of Klein's book, and squeezes in so much the end result is an overcooked soufflé of melodrama.
While "Primary Colors" the novel works as an over-the-top black farce with hints of real pathos, "Primary Colors" the film gives us a lot of agony and little of the fun. At nearly two-and-a-half hours, this makes for tough sledding.
May and director Mike Nichols were the team that did "The Birdcage," a fine, outrageous comedy, two years before. "Primary Colors" would seem a worthy candidate for the same light touch, but except for two sequences, one involving Rob Reiner as the soporific host of the radio show "Schmooze For Jews" and the other with Tony Shalhoub offering the goods on one of Stanton's opponents, you don't get that here. There's a lot of screaming instead, and talking, and more screaming, and more talking. Staffers blob out on hotel beds and whine about what's going wrong, crises are averted, then something else goes wrong. And everything is played soooo seriously.
The movie takes some liberties from the book, not good ones. An outrageously funny Al Sharpton character who rags on Burton for neglecting his black roots is omitted. Tierney's Daisy Green character is locked in a romance with Burton that is central to the novel (will ambition trump love?) but just presented and abandoned, along with Tierney, in the movie. Most important, the novel's ambiguous ending is spelled out with a scene that feels flat and self-congratulatory.
The truth is Stanton is hard to place as a good or bad guy, not because he's supposed to be Clinton, but because he's not Clinton. He's his own character, complex, decent, venal, idealistic, funny, greedy, selfish, and worth valuing for all that. Travolta gets the smoothness, but not the underneath part. Nor do Nichols and May, a great comedy team back in the 1960s who seem, for at least this one film, to have misplaced their senses of humor.
If I hadn't read the book, I might have liked this more. Maybe I'm docking the film more than I should that way. But given how condensed everything is, I probably wouldn't have understood the movie without reading the book. "Primary Colors" the book is full of life, but the film adaptation never breathes. If John Travolta really was Bill Clinton, he never would have made it out of New Hampshire.
A sparkling cracker of a political thriller
cruiseabout21 January 2001
It's said that only the very best actors can compete with children and animals, and to this should be listed bright-eyed, cute-as-a-button young newcomers like Adrian Lester, who steals every scene he's in as an idealistic young aide until a larger-than-life Kathy Bates steamrolls her way onto the crowded scene. This film, based on Clinton's 1990 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination, is a fictionalized, not factual, view of the man and his character and ideals, and quite simply one of the best films ever made about the confusing maze that is American politics.
Just as the American media, spurred on by the Republican witch-hunters, rubbed our noses in the dirt surrounding Clinton's indiscretions, the movie doesn't spare Jack Stanton for his moral weaknesses and poor personal judgements, but makes the point that the dirt grubbing and trivializing media are equally immoral in seeking to denigrate a man's political ideals because of his sexual peccadillos. The media is one Enemy of Truth, but the real Enemy of the People, lurking, malevolent and unseen, in the murky shadows at the edges of this film, is the Republican Party, and it's interesting that it takes a British director to take such a decisive stand, as Hollywood has always been reticent to take sides in the Democrat/Republican debate. The point made here, from the testimony of the battle-scarred "true Believers", from the idealistic young party aides, from the would-be President's wife (an uncanny portrayal of Hillary by a dynamic Emma Thompson) and Stanton himself (although physically unlike Bill Clinton, John Travolta gives a very believable performance), is that the President needs to be a man of the people, to be able to understand the people, and to be able to communicate with the people, despite the lies of his opponents and the mud slinging of the media. If America doesn't always get the President it deserves, it's because these very qualities are often blocked by his political enemies and a sensation-seeking media, particularly the television networks. An uninformed Democracy is no Democracy at all, and it's a mark of the inherent strength of the American people and their political system that it has withstood these obstacles, despite the many mediocre Presidencies we have seen in our times.
Just as the American media, spurred on by the Republican witch-hunters, rubbed our noses in the dirt surrounding Clinton's indiscretions, the movie doesn't spare Jack Stanton for his moral weaknesses and poor personal judgements, but makes the point that the dirt grubbing and trivializing media are equally immoral in seeking to denigrate a man's political ideals because of his sexual peccadillos. The media is one Enemy of Truth, but the real Enemy of the People, lurking, malevolent and unseen, in the murky shadows at the edges of this film, is the Republican Party, and it's interesting that it takes a British director to take such a decisive stand, as Hollywood has always been reticent to take sides in the Democrat/Republican debate. The point made here, from the testimony of the battle-scarred "true Believers", from the idealistic young party aides, from the would-be President's wife (an uncanny portrayal of Hillary by a dynamic Emma Thompson) and Stanton himself (although physically unlike Bill Clinton, John Travolta gives a very believable performance), is that the President needs to be a man of the people, to be able to understand the people, and to be able to communicate with the people, despite the lies of his opponents and the mud slinging of the media. If America doesn't always get the President it deserves, it's because these very qualities are often blocked by his political enemies and a sensation-seeking media, particularly the television networks. An uninformed Democracy is no Democracy at all, and it's a mark of the inherent strength of the American people and their political system that it has withstood these obstacles, despite the many mediocre Presidencies we have seen in our times.
good performances
SnoopyStyle20 January 2015
Henry Burton (Adrian Lester) is the grandson of a civil rights leader. He is brought in as the body man for Governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta) as he runs for the democratic nomination for president. It's a small campaign at the beginning. He has a complicated relationships with his wife Susan Stanton (Emma Thompson). Jack is a womanizer and an exceedingly friendly guy. Inappropriate southerner Richard Jemmons (Billy Bob Thornton) and Daisy Green (Maura Tierney) are the strategists. Henry wants politics to make a difference and is won over by Burton who may actually win. They hire the unstable Libby Holden (Kathy Bates) who was Jack's former chief of staff to research all the hidden skeletons. Then a sex scandal erupts.
Based on Joe Klein's book on the Clinton campaign, this has the feel of ripped-from-the-headlines story. That has its own charm and its own pitfalls. It can feel at times like a TV movie about the presidential campaign with them playing very recognizable characters. It also has the feel of authenticity. The performances are terrific anchored by Travolta, Billy Bob and Thompson. Although Henry Burton needs to be a more central compelling character. He not only has to represent the audience but he needs to react to Jack. The audience has to feel the reaction. Jack has to raise up Henry and then break his heart. Burton is a bit too bland of a character in a world of sharp compelling characters.
Based on Joe Klein's book on the Clinton campaign, this has the feel of ripped-from-the-headlines story. That has its own charm and its own pitfalls. It can feel at times like a TV movie about the presidential campaign with them playing very recognizable characters. It also has the feel of authenticity. The performances are terrific anchored by Travolta, Billy Bob and Thompson. Although Henry Burton needs to be a more central compelling character. He not only has to represent the audience but he needs to react to Jack. The audience has to feel the reaction. Jack has to raise up Henry and then break his heart. Burton is a bit too bland of a character in a world of sharp compelling characters.
There must be something wrong with me...
paigeth6 July 1999
Well, everyone else seemed to love this movie. I on the other hand could not stand it. I hated every minute of the drawn out, obvious, over acted, headachey scenes. This film was torture to watch. First off, let's hit the audience over the head with the ever-so-subtle parallels here. Need I say more about the obvious Clinton Scandal train jumpers that made this film? OK, I will. Each scene was painfully over acted, mostly by Travolta and Bates. I came away from this film with no desire to see another Travolta movie again with the exception of Pulp Fiction. I was sickened by his strained and squinty demeanor. Each throaty word sounded like the exhausted output of a fireplace bellows, whose entire life has been spent inhaling and exhaling smoke. But Bates, with her over acted lesbian cowboy character put me over the edge. Her character was not only extreme but hypocritical as well. I found it very difficult to sympathize with her character and thought that suicide was grossly unnecessary, however, if she had to have died, I would have appreciated it if she had killed herself earlier in the picture. I truly am baffled by the acclaim her performance was given. I thought it was a poor character whose actor ruined any chance of likability by over acting. If you have any comments you would like to share with me, feel free to. I really am a nice person, I just didn't enjoy this film.
Insightful, entertaining political drama
cinemel7 April 1999
Now that the Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton circus has played itself out, I finally saw Elaine May's excellent, under-appreciated rendering of the tale of a thinly disguised American politician and his campaign to become President of the United States. The performances in "Primary Colors" are remarkable. John Travolta does an astonishing impersonation of Clinton without being a Saturday Night Live caricature. Emma Thompson is perfect as his long-suffering wife, always waiting for the other shoe to drop revealing his indiscretions. Kathy Bates deserved her Academy Award nomination as his public relations trouble-shooter. Her not quite over-the-top performance is the heart of this opus. Last, but not least, Adrian Lester is the idealist young African American in charge of his campaign. This impassioned portrayal bodes well to a successful future in films. Mike Nichols has directed Miss May's script with intelligence and humor. See it now, after all the gossiping has died down, for an insightful, entertaining glimpse into the world of politics.
The Art of Holding Office
rmax30482326 January 2006
The movie is full of funny scenes. One of the scenes that is most amusing has Governor Stanton (Travolta) and his staff sitting around an over-sized table at a familiar Southern barbecue joint, slopping down chicken and ribs and bottles of beer. The governor, the black barbecue owner, and the campaign strategist (Thornton), are trading stories about their Mammas. "My Mamma had diabetes." "My Mamma never had a nickel." It's a subtle contest in which the conversants one-up one another while exchanging sympathies that are at least half genuine. Thornton wins. He gets uncertainly to his feet, slams his chair down, and cries, "My mamma raised SEVEN of us kids and worked her fingers to the bone doin' it. Now they're cuttin' her up, piece by piece!" He begins weeping. The others gather round him and give him a group hug and they sing, "You Are My Sunshine" (written by a Southern governor, claims Travolta), and Stanton's wife (Thomson) feeds him tissues to sob into. It's late at night and the newly awakened hound dogs howl along with the singing.
The whole first half of the movie is more or less that way, an outrageous ripoff of Clinton and his amateurs and friends during the 1992 primary race with lots of jokes and lovable characters.
"Your Mamma still with you?" the teary barbecue owner asks one of the governor's staff during the sob fest? The new man, who hasn't been listening, looks up and answers distractedly, "No, she lives in Beverley Hills with her second husband." The middle third of the movie turns more serious, with some major challenges to Travolta's continuing momentum. Did he really impregnate the barbecue owner's pretty young daughter? We don't find out but the suggestion is that COULD have. Is Travolta going to have to "go negative" in his ads, as his opponents have done? We can be forgiven, I think, if we find these issues a little naive these days.
The final third of the movie, in my view, fails. The director, Mike Nichols, is extremely efficient and very sensitive to details of scene and character, but he has a tendency to take a funny movie and make it "serious" by giving it a downbeat or even tragic ending. It's as if the Chicago gangsters had finally caught Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis at the end of "Some Like it Hot" and gunned them down in an alley. Instead of a skillful mixture of comedy and drama we wind up with a movie that's been cut up -- piece by piece -- into two big pieces.
Aside from the structure itself, this particular tragedy doesn't work. A manic lesbian (Kathy Bates) is called in to do her usual job of digging up dirt on the opposition. She's energetic, earthy, and likable. And when she feels betrayed by Governor Stanton she kills herself. A person who is a professional cynic finds she can't live after her illusions about her boss are shattered. Then there is a kind of anti-climax involving a retired governor who becomes a public figure by -- well, never mind. I got a little lost somewhere along in here. A gay man dying of AIDS in a hospice.
Well, the laughs disappear, but not to be replaced by thought, only by emotions easily elicited by the pushing of certain buttons. You may tear up, but you don't think, "What a tragedy." You think, "Gee, that's too bad." Meanwhile the movie, overburdened by its own weight, wobbles on to its end. It's cleverly written by Elaine May and done well by everyone involved, but, gee, that's too bad. What is wrong with a straight comedy? What is it, some kind of disease? Does a worthwhile movie NEED to be "about something"? Even Bill Shakespeare wrote silly and amusing plays.
The whole first half of the movie is more or less that way, an outrageous ripoff of Clinton and his amateurs and friends during the 1992 primary race with lots of jokes and lovable characters.
"Your Mamma still with you?" the teary barbecue owner asks one of the governor's staff during the sob fest? The new man, who hasn't been listening, looks up and answers distractedly, "No, she lives in Beverley Hills with her second husband." The middle third of the movie turns more serious, with some major challenges to Travolta's continuing momentum. Did he really impregnate the barbecue owner's pretty young daughter? We don't find out but the suggestion is that COULD have. Is Travolta going to have to "go negative" in his ads, as his opponents have done? We can be forgiven, I think, if we find these issues a little naive these days.
The final third of the movie, in my view, fails. The director, Mike Nichols, is extremely efficient and very sensitive to details of scene and character, but he has a tendency to take a funny movie and make it "serious" by giving it a downbeat or even tragic ending. It's as if the Chicago gangsters had finally caught Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis at the end of "Some Like it Hot" and gunned them down in an alley. Instead of a skillful mixture of comedy and drama we wind up with a movie that's been cut up -- piece by piece -- into two big pieces.
Aside from the structure itself, this particular tragedy doesn't work. A manic lesbian (Kathy Bates) is called in to do her usual job of digging up dirt on the opposition. She's energetic, earthy, and likable. And when she feels betrayed by Governor Stanton she kills herself. A person who is a professional cynic finds she can't live after her illusions about her boss are shattered. Then there is a kind of anti-climax involving a retired governor who becomes a public figure by -- well, never mind. I got a little lost somewhere along in here. A gay man dying of AIDS in a hospice.
Well, the laughs disappear, but not to be replaced by thought, only by emotions easily elicited by the pushing of certain buttons. You may tear up, but you don't think, "What a tragedy." You think, "Gee, that's too bad." Meanwhile the movie, overburdened by its own weight, wobbles on to its end. It's cleverly written by Elaine May and done well by everyone involved, but, gee, that's too bad. What is wrong with a straight comedy? What is it, some kind of disease? Does a worthwhile movie NEED to be "about something"? Even Bill Shakespeare wrote silly and amusing plays.
Sexhound runs for the Big Office
helpless_dancer8 April 2003
This sure played out like a propaganda piece straight from the pen of a solid Clinton backer. Did Stanton really care about people as he let on, or was he cynically snickering up his sleeve while running his tacky game? Did the little woman stay with him out of sincere feelings or to ride his tails into the White House? Don't know, but I really enjoyed this film: it looked like the way an actual race for office would go down.
Let's hear it for Allison Janney...
Gadare18 June 2005
A Janney pulls off a stunning piece of physical comedy in the first minutes of the film. I've watched it over and over and wonder how she did it without hurting herself.... it must have been rehearsed with ballet intricacy. Plus she is hilarious in subsequent scenes. I laugh every time i see it. A positive aspect of this film is that when it lags, a talented actor shows up in a small role (Rob Reiner, Larry Hagman) to help push it along. Travolta and Thompson, however are true revelations. I just finished Bill Clinton's autobiography and it's interesting to juxtapose it with the fictional view of a high level campaign worker. If I watch "The War Room" now, I'll just get morbidly nostalgic for the good old days.
A 90's nostalgic political yarn that asks the timeless question, "Does a leftist need to sell their soul?"
DarthVoorhees1 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
'Primary Colors' holds up well. It's a trip of 90's nostalgia and yet it's questions and themes are still very relevant in the Trump age. It takes us back to a simpler time when our gravest concern was Clinton's promiscuity. I like the dilemma of the film as to whether our lead character Henry Burton can look past the fact that the Clinton standee is a reprehensible scumbag to embrace his ability to win voters. I feel as if it's the crux of being a liberal in this country.
The cast is what sells the film because there is so much danger of venturing off into caricature here. For the most part I think the film navigates that tight rope pretty well. The main stand out is Travolta in arguably his career best performance. His Jack Stanton challenges the audience as we can at both times appreciate and loath him. Travolta is particularly good at showing that so much of the character is a facade. The best scene is when he flips out in a restroom after getting some bad news. Emma Thompson is also excellent as Jack's long suffering wife Susan who while angry at her husband is willing to buckle down and withstand his many character faults if it means having her ambitions fulfilled.
It's a very on the nose movie. I'll compare it to a later(but much worse) Nichol's film, Charlie Wilson's War. Both films are politically charged but there is a nuance to them that Nichols really doesn't seem to appreciate at times. He is fortunate in that Adrian Lester really is wonderful at relaying the conflict his character is going through. There's an ending to the film that I feel must have been added in post-production where the moral dilemma is for lack of a better word resolved. He should have left the audience hanging.
The cast is what sells the film because there is so much danger of venturing off into caricature here. For the most part I think the film navigates that tight rope pretty well. The main stand out is Travolta in arguably his career best performance. His Jack Stanton challenges the audience as we can at both times appreciate and loath him. Travolta is particularly good at showing that so much of the character is a facade. The best scene is when he flips out in a restroom after getting some bad news. Emma Thompson is also excellent as Jack's long suffering wife Susan who while angry at her husband is willing to buckle down and withstand his many character faults if it means having her ambitions fulfilled.
It's a very on the nose movie. I'll compare it to a later(but much worse) Nichol's film, Charlie Wilson's War. Both films are politically charged but there is a nuance to them that Nichols really doesn't seem to appreciate at times. He is fortunate in that Adrian Lester really is wonderful at relaying the conflict his character is going through. There's an ending to the film that I feel must have been added in post-production where the moral dilemma is for lack of a better word resolved. He should have left the audience hanging.
When we get into those "moral" issues
bkoganbing16 February 2018
Sadly enough sins of the flesh have been used to bring down rising political
figures since the dawn of time. 10 years ago my local Assemblyman was caught
having an affair with an intern and faced a primary over it. Since in my opinion
he did a good job in representing me and what I want quite frankly he could have
had affairs on the state capital steps with 100 interns. I just don't care about these things. Still sadly enough people do and we've seen in fiction Charles
Foster Kane brought down by his affair with Susan Alexander and in real life
Charles Parnell in Ireland by his affair with Kitty O'Shea.
In a portrayal so obviously based on the Clintons they ought to sue, John Travolta and Emma Thompson play a southern governor and his Yankee born wife who is running for president. As Henry Kissinger said "power is the ultimate aphrodisiac and the groupies do buzz around Travolta, more than he can handle.
And because of that he's got this trail of women who are ready to exploit his new found celebrity as a presidential candidate. His presidential bid just might get derailed before he's out of the station.
All this is seen through the eyes of Adrian Lester whose granddad was a noted civil right activist who is considering signing on. He watches how Travolta deals with the various accusations, how his best defense is a good offense.
It saddens me that we lose a lot of potentially good public officials through these sins of the flesh. I've always hated politicians who having nothing else to offer make someone else's so called moral failings their main issue. We'll all be better off once as a society we're past that. Ironically the last presidential election may have been a game changer for the wrong reasons.
Primary Colors got two Oscar nominations, for best adapted screenplay based on Joe Klein's novel and Best Supporting Actress for Kathy Bates. Bates is a tough political infighter, but loyal to Travolta/Thompson having history going all the way back to the Vietnam war protests. She dominates when she's on screen and her very loyalty carries the seeds of self destruction.
Current Oscar contender Alison Janney has a really great part as a school administrator who has a drinking problem and misses no opportunity to put her issue across with Travolta. She's at the beginning of the film, but you remember her throughout.
Primary Colors, another in the pantheon of great political films.
In a portrayal so obviously based on the Clintons they ought to sue, John Travolta and Emma Thompson play a southern governor and his Yankee born wife who is running for president. As Henry Kissinger said "power is the ultimate aphrodisiac and the groupies do buzz around Travolta, more than he can handle.
And because of that he's got this trail of women who are ready to exploit his new found celebrity as a presidential candidate. His presidential bid just might get derailed before he's out of the station.
All this is seen through the eyes of Adrian Lester whose granddad was a noted civil right activist who is considering signing on. He watches how Travolta deals with the various accusations, how his best defense is a good offense.
It saddens me that we lose a lot of potentially good public officials through these sins of the flesh. I've always hated politicians who having nothing else to offer make someone else's so called moral failings their main issue. We'll all be better off once as a society we're past that. Ironically the last presidential election may have been a game changer for the wrong reasons.
Primary Colors got two Oscar nominations, for best adapted screenplay based on Joe Klein's novel and Best Supporting Actress for Kathy Bates. Bates is a tough political infighter, but loyal to Travolta/Thompson having history going all the way back to the Vietnam war protests. She dominates when she's on screen and her very loyalty carries the seeds of self destruction.
Current Oscar contender Alison Janney has a really great part as a school administrator who has a drinking problem and misses no opportunity to put her issue across with Travolta. She's at the beginning of the film, but you remember her throughout.
Primary Colors, another in the pantheon of great political films.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF
kevin c4 December 2000
Travolta is so good as Clinton, you totally forget this is Mr Saturday Night Fever or Pulp Fiction. The trouble with the film is you're never sure whether the film totally disapproves of the main man. As in reality the President weaves an enticing spell. Life will be so dull with Bush or Gore.
it's all in the timing
lee_eisenberg15 April 2006
There is often debate about whether or not a person should see a movie without having read the novel first. That said, I will admit that I never read the novel "Primary Colors"; I only saw the movie. It was of course loosely based on Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and the various vicissitudes therein. John Travolta plays the Clinton-like Gov. Jack Stanton.
Then arises the problem. When I took an ethics class, one of the issues that we discussed was "what if so-and-so happens?". Well, guess what? "So-and-so" happened right before this movie came out. I'm talking of course about the whole Lewinsky thing. Since "Primary Colors" focuses a little bit on Stanton's possible marital infidelity, that might have doomed it, as we were already tired of hearing about it on the news ("Wag the Dog" did a neat job looking at these sorts of things). And if we were going to talk about it, people were more interested in the apparent stain on the dress.
All in all, stories of politicians' sexual mishaps just don't make for interesting movies; Mike Nichols should know better than to do this. The best scene in the movie is when Libby Holden (Kathy Bates) threatens to deprive a man of his manhood (you know what I'm talking about). Also starring Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Adrian Lester, Maura Tierney, Larry Hagman and Diane Ladd.
And one more thing about the whole Lewinsky thing. It should only show what the whole thing involved, that the drive to impeach Clinton was led by the now-discredited Tom DeLay. Moreover, they had about $52 million to spend investigating a stain on a dress - by comparison, the commission investigating the September 11 attacks only had $13 million. Like I said, it just goes to show what all we're dealing with.
Then arises the problem. When I took an ethics class, one of the issues that we discussed was "what if so-and-so happens?". Well, guess what? "So-and-so" happened right before this movie came out. I'm talking of course about the whole Lewinsky thing. Since "Primary Colors" focuses a little bit on Stanton's possible marital infidelity, that might have doomed it, as we were already tired of hearing about it on the news ("Wag the Dog" did a neat job looking at these sorts of things). And if we were going to talk about it, people were more interested in the apparent stain on the dress.
All in all, stories of politicians' sexual mishaps just don't make for interesting movies; Mike Nichols should know better than to do this. The best scene in the movie is when Libby Holden (Kathy Bates) threatens to deprive a man of his manhood (you know what I'm talking about). Also starring Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Adrian Lester, Maura Tierney, Larry Hagman and Diane Ladd.
And one more thing about the whole Lewinsky thing. It should only show what the whole thing involved, that the drive to impeach Clinton was led by the now-discredited Tom DeLay. Moreover, they had about $52 million to spend investigating a stain on a dress - by comparison, the commission investigating the September 11 attacks only had $13 million. Like I said, it just goes to show what all we're dealing with.
Really enjoyed it, very good film.
apjc30 April 2018
Even a Brit like me knows exactly who these fictional characters are portraying from the start. Think all the actors major & minor deserve resounding applause if not accolades for their portrayals. The film does ask the question as to whether US democracy actually fulfils the ideal it pretends to aim for. The presidential elections are a prime example, you overthrow monarchy & aristocracy. Yet end up with the same old oligarchies - Kennedy's / Bush's / Clinton's. The winner is usually a populist, well that's democratic, but slightly demagogic. This guy, as lets face it you've never had a woman running the country, often uses presidential decrees to force his policy through, that my friends is what the Greeks called a tyrant. So as you can see, or the Greeks would, you've left democracy a long way back in this paragraph & probably history.
It was all right, nothing more
Boyo-222 April 1999
I enjoyed this movie but do not think it's great cinema or anything profound. I liked Adrian Lester and hope to see him again in another movie. Kathy Bates was great as always. I couldn't tell what John Travolta was trying to communicate, if he was lying or being sincere. As a result I enjoyed the movie more when he was not on the screen, and I think the best scenes are without him.
Blah!
jll27 August 1999
The worst kind of movie, really. Not good or likeable, and yet not bad in any interesting way. If I were to define cinematic idempotency- a movie that makes absolutely no impression on the viewer- I guess I would use "Primary Colors" to do so.
The film's meant to be a satire of presidential politics and yet it so closely shadows actual events that what happens is never exciting, arousing, or new. Maybe that'd be OK if some of the characters were compelling but none of them are. Blame it on the book, then, I guess. Joe Klein didn't develop characters there so much as founts for his own wisdom, why is why everyone here seems to talk the same way. Everyone, that is, except Libby, who talks the same way but with more exclamation points and expletives than any other character. I'm glad Oscar did not see fit to award her screechy, wheel-spinning performance with a statuette. That's two (along with Best Picture) it really got right this year.
The film's meant to be a satire of presidential politics and yet it so closely shadows actual events that what happens is never exciting, arousing, or new. Maybe that'd be OK if some of the characters were compelling but none of them are. Blame it on the book, then, I guess. Joe Klein didn't develop characters there so much as founts for his own wisdom, why is why everyone here seems to talk the same way. Everyone, that is, except Libby, who talks the same way but with more exclamation points and expletives than any other character. I'm glad Oscar did not see fit to award her screechy, wheel-spinning performance with a statuette. That's two (along with Best Picture) it really got right this year.
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