Primary Colors – Review

Primary Colors

with John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton
Directed by Mike Nichols
Written by Joe Klein, Elaine May 
by Scott Hefflon

While no longer a “new release,” despite my regular video store’s leaving it on the shelf to 1) boost rentals, and 2) occupy space seeing as they don’t get anything good or quickly, not that the market has exactly been flooded with “must-see”s, I feel compelled to mention Primary Colors. Aside from the obvious fact that it somewhat parallels the Clinton situation (as does Wag the Dog), it’s perhaps one of the tightest, most ethical-questioning dramas I’ve seen in some time. And all that without feeling the need to answer questions or moralize. Primary Colors shows real people in real situations making real decisions – not bad for a movie.

Travolta is the story of Presidential-nominee, Gov. Jack Stanton, a down-to-Earth guy with a passion for talking to people, who also tends to sleep with quite a few in the process. His wife, Susan (Thompson), stands by her man, ruggedly keeping pace with him and loving him despite his many weaknesses/exploits/outbursts, but not without giving him occasional well-deserved shit. In other words, they’re a strong couple weathering the storm of scandal and political pressure, and they strive onward to make the changes in society they think they can make. Travolta plays his role wonderfully – every time you distrust him, he performs a feat or gesture of kindness that can only come from the heart. Either he’s a savvy mastermind of manipulation, or he’s a darn nice guy with a weakness for a nice pair of legs. Stanton’s team is comprised of Richard Jemmons (Thornton), an acknowledged redneck but a crafty, deliberate, rather cynical hardnose of a media adviser, Libby Holden (Kathy Bates), a hard-living, girl-lovin’, no-bullshit-taking whirlwind of energy who’s called the “dust-buster” because she gets the dirt on anyone, anytime, anywhere, and Daisy (Maura Tierney), a somewhat under-developed cute-young-thing who’s sharp, quick on her feet, and has no illusions about the realities of political life. New to the team – for all practical purposes the narrator – is Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), the grandson of a revered civil rights leader who gets caught in the infectious, somewhat suspect, energy that is Jack Stanton. In spite of an over-active libido and an unstoppable, almost predestined, drive to be #1, even skeptics agree Stanton is a man who can make changes. But at what cost?

Excuse the melodrama, but that’s what this sort of thing is all about: basically Stanton is a good guy, but like anyone else, he has flaws and weaknesses. And politics is not a game that forgives easily or lightly. Numerous, very realistic obstacles are thrown in the way of the Stanton team’s quest for the presidency, and time after time they discuss options, implications, and make a decision. Team members shack up, form alliances, and have falling outs, as any team under pressure will. And lines are drawn, and some crossed, because different people are willing to go to different lengths (or depths) in order to get what they want. That is the drama of Primary Colors. As in real life, there is humor, temptation, denial, admiration, anger, sadness, confusion, and somewhere in there, a reason to keep going.