Primary Colors

source: Primary Colors

I thought this film suffered from a lack of direction- it just seemed to wander along from scene to scene right from the beginning, where there was no apparent introduction to any of the characters. I thought Travolta would have given a better performance if he hadn't tried so much to do a blatant impression of Clinton, and had instead just got on with acting. I thought Emma Thompson's English accent stuck out at times, but maybe my coming from England made it more obvious to me. So overall- quite amusing at times, but badly put together, and with too many obvious shots at Clinton not helping the plot any.

One of the worst movies of all time. I am into politics, and was expecting a lot of mud to come out on Mr. Bill. All we got was a little dirty water, and a huge liberal twist to the movie that makes Mr. Bill seem like a good guy. I was sick to my stomach after watching all the liberal twists that were in it. I bet the book is a lot better! I guess that I should have expected it. What else could a liberal Hollywood make.

We learn how Clinton (er Stanton) cares so much about the people that he's willing to use the government to smother their livelihood, crush their freedoms, and take care of their every need. I want off of Uncle Tom's Plantation! What ever happened to speaking the truth, working hard, and being a free, self-governing individual?

This movie and the book upon which it was based caused a major stir when first released because President Bill Clinton felt the movie was based too much on his own life, even though the author denied that Clinton served as the model for the book's lead character. It's kind of hard to believe the author, since John Travolta's character has a haircut and a Southern accent identical to Clinton's. Also, the scandals Travolta suffers in the film, such as adulterous affairs and having children out of wedlock, also plagued Clinton during his presidency. Whoever you believe, Primary Colors is a very enjoyable film, even if you don't like political movies. The entire cast is great, especially Larry Hagman as an aging Florida senator who fills in for one of Travolta's opponents after he has a heart attack. It's a good step away from his J.R. Ewing character, even if his accent sounds the same. Primary Colors is rated R for profanity and sexual references, but I think a PG-13 would have been more appropriate. Krispy Kreme dougnuts, anyone?

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!! (There may not be any here, but I'll always, during comments, put this up to be safe) I felt that Primary Colors was a pretty good movie. I felt that Adrian Lester's Henry Burton was superbly played, a man thrust unknowingly into managing the campaign. Henry feels or wants to believe in Stanton's campaign and in Stanton himself, but he continually feels dismayed at the methods he is told to use in order to protect Stanton, literally becoming sick of one job. He becomes friends with Gov. Stanton's wife Susan Stanton (Emma Thompson, who is also good, particularly at dropping her English dialect to play an American here), a woman who is genuinely (certainly when compared to her husband) interested in people and a believer in the campaign, but is as disgusted as Henry is in the latest sexual revelation involving her husband. The interesting theme that Mike Nichols examines is the contradiction that while Stanton's campaign workers struggle to keep the campaign going in the face of Stanton's sexual affairs, the workers ALSO become sexually involved with each other. Sex permeates and dominates Stanton's campaign. Daisy (Maura Tierney)becomes involved with Henry; Libby Holden (Kathy Bates,(who is hard-nosed and wonderful here)becomes a lover of Jennifer, a campaign worker at Stanton's headquarters. Other good performances include Travolta's Jack Stanton, who at first tries hard to imitate President Clinton but soon slips comfortably into the role; Larry Hagman's Gov. Picker, a flawed but moral man who truly feels the sting of the past, unlike Stanton, and who wants to take the contest to a higher level. In summation, a pretty good film about the "attack the enemy, protect oneself, and ignore the issues" state of campaigns today, and certainly worth a look.

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.

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.

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.

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.