Mit aller Macht

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.

This was a truly great commentary on politics in the modern world. John Travolta pulls off one of the best Bill Clinton impressions I've been priveleged enough to witness. Emma Thompson is witty, and real, a true testament to her skill and brilliance in her craft. But my favorite performances were delivered by the supporting characters in the film. To begin, the oft ignored Maura Tierney. She's charming, versatile, talented, and downright adorable. Daisy is horribly underwritten for an actress of her talent, but nevertheless a great and appealing character. Billy Bob Thornton's Richard Jemmons is hilarious and brilliant. He represents the truest example of the hardened believer. Finally came the eloquent and insane Libby Holden given breath in this mortal coil by the infallible Kathy Bates. I couldn't even begin to describe the beauty of this character's idealism. I would love to see more of it in our government. Good movie. Lots of fun, and lots of heart.

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.

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

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.