Primary Colors

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?

I thought "Primary Colors" (1998:***) was pretty good. It appears to be a lot easier on "Jack Stanton," the Clinton surrogate played by John Travolta, than the book reportedly was. The movie presents "Stanton" as flawed but essentially decent (at least as decent as any politician running for high office can be). Travolta's imitation of Clinton is OK for a "Saturday Night Live" sketch, but it sometimes gets in the way of his performance over the 2-1/2 hour length of the film. However, he's often effective, and Emma Thompson is first-rate as "Susan Stanton", by turns pragmatically worldly-wise and fiercely supportive. Actually, the focal point of the film is not that of the Stantons but the young, black grandson of a highly regarded civil rights leader, who gets sucked into Stanton's roller-coaster campaign and has his idealism sorely tested. He's well-played by an actor named Adrian Lester. There are also great turns by Kathy Bates, Larry Hagman and Billy Bob Thornton, among many others.

For me, the only big drawback of the picture was the melodramatic suicide of a key player in the drama (I won't say who). I thought it was something this particular character would never do. Otherwise, "Colors" is absorbing and funny and moving nearly all the way. Good moment: The Stantons do a "60 Minutes"-like reaffirmation of their marriage, but as soon as the cameras are turned off, she yanks her hand out of his in a flash.

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.

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.

"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