PRIMARY COLORS (1998) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Mike Nichols Writer: Elaine May (based on the novel by Joe Klein, who would like to remain anonymous) Starring: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Adrian Lester, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton, Maura Tierney, Paul Guilfoyle, Larry Hagman, Caroline Aaron, Diane Ladd, Stacy Edwards, Tommy Hollis, Allison Janney, Robert Klein, Mykelti Williamson, Rob Reiner, Tony Shalhoub, Chelcie Ross, Larry King, Bill Maher
To be blunt, "Primary Colors" is one of the angriest and cynical films about running for political office ever made, but luckily it doesn't allow these two overpowering feelings to crush the film's power as entertainment. What could have been a really cynical reflection on working for the Clinton campaign back in '92 (which is what the book by Joe "Anonymous" Klein is) is instead an epic intelligent satire on a campaign very similar to that one, not showing what an asswhole Bill Clinton may be, but what the campaign road does to the people working on it. Which, of course, suits me just fine since I would have voted for him if I had been of age back then.
The focus of "Primary Colors" is, in fact, not even on Bill and Hillary Clinton (as well as Chelsea), but on a man named Henry Burton (Adrian Lester, nicely faking an American accent) who's the son of a famous civil rights leader, and who becomes the film's version of George Stephanopolous. He's interested in working for an Arkansas governor named Jack Stanton (John Travolta, done up in Clinton-gear), but before officially signing on to the team, finds himself on his private jet to New Hampshire with Stanton sleeping on his shoulder.
Before he can even get new clothes from his house, Burton has been swept away by Stanton and his ideals (he sees him cry over a speech an uneducated man played by Mykelti Williamson who describes his inability to read), and has been given a head post of a campaign office. Burton respects Stanton, and has convinced himself that he is a good person and candidate, even after seeing how he acts when not with people who can further his political career. As the film goes on, Burton finds himself on the road with Stanton and a couple of other team members, such as: a James Carville-esque political strategist, Richard Jemmons (a great Billy Bob Thornton); a fellow worker named Daisy Green ("NewsRadio"'s Maura Tierney), who begins a relationship with Burton more out of a lack of nothing else to do than out of love; and others, like a member played by Paul Guilfoyle, who's been in everything recently...or at least it seems that way.
The truth is, though, that Stanton's weakness is his libido, and the film not only has a Gennifer Flowers for us, but also a young daughter of a friends' who he may or may not have gotten pregnant. Stanton seems to not be able to control this, even after speaking to him about it, and this obviously becomes his big weak point in terms of the media's coverage of his race to become president.
The film is obviously and unsubtlely a caricature of the Clintons, even giving Travolta the exact look of Clinton (right down to his eyebrows), and portraying Stanton's Hillary, Susan (Emma Thompson, also faking a nice American accent...or at least giving a good try), as a tough woman, almost totally resembling Hillary's rough outer edge. This may seem cheap, but the film actually doesn't try and show how they are alone, and we never see how Jack's infidelities hurt Susan. There are at least three occurances of Jack and Susan being left alone by someone else so that they can argue, but we leave along with the people, never seeing what occurs in private. This is a wise choice: how does the film know what goes on? Trying to come up with a solution to the question of what goes on behind their closed doors would lead to a mistep in the film. The fact that Jack Stanton isn't in all of this film is one of the film's major benefits.
There's another chief character in the film in the form of Kathy Bates (ha ha) named Libby Holden, a woman who is hired by Stanton's staff to uncover any secret information about Jack that could harm him (a woman uncovers a time when Jack was arrested and released by a Senator). Kathy plays her as an extremely tough woman, bullying anyone who gets in her way, and taking on a very demanding presence in Jack's staff.
One of the great things about this film is how it treats her character: she's seen as a stereotype when she walks into the film for the first time (the tough lesbian, sleeping with little staff member Stacy Edwards, who just starred in "In the Company of Men" and is currently residing on "Chicago Hope"), but as the film goes on, she is forced to do some reconnaissance work AGAINST the main opponent (who soon becomes none other than Larry Hagman, sans Jeanie), and reveals herself to not just be a tough woman, but a woman with a strict moral center, who is only up for protecting people from themselves, not hurting innocent people.
The film presents all of this with a touch of cynicism (after all, it's told from the point of view of someone who has to endure all of this), but with the right amount of reflexion, seeing that the problem with the campaign road was not with Jack Stanton and his infidelities, but really with being on the road itself. Campaigning is shown to tear people apart, make them crazy and do horrible things as things get worse. Where else would all of a person's past occurances come to light and be scrutinized like it was something they did yesterday?
The greatest thing about this film is its presentation of Jack Stanton, who's seen as a man with a severe character flaw, but is still a very good person, and one hell of a politician. Seeing him sitting down and listening to people is something that is a very sellable political trait, and the fact that his main wont in life is to help people makes him a good person, not just a very good politician. And the fact that we don't know everything about him is one of the film's best traits.
"Primary Colors" comes off as being more honest than cynical, probably because it tells it more as a reflexion of being on the road, remembering what it was like those lonesome nights in the hotel room, and watching the TV nervously, wondering what place the candidate your working for will get a high rating. It's bitter about how the media took advantage of the candidate's past, trying to make them out to be horrible creatures, and then how the other candidates tried to use this information for their own benefit. And it's even a little annoyed by the talk show hosts who mock political leaders (represented by Bill Maher - what? Leno was busy?), taking advantage of the weakness of being completely in the public's eye. It's angry and pissed off about this, but it's not overbearing.
"Primary Colors" is only the second film to be pissed off at the media in terms of the way they handle politics in under six months (the others being "Wag the Dog" and "Bulworth"), but this film actually comes off as being more human and epic than those. One of the best things about "Primary Colors" is how it's mad as hell, but it has the intelligence to not let that bring it down. It's concerned with the way it affects people, making them do terrible things to other people, and how it drives the people who work for it sometimes over the edge. I guess it's not so much an adaptation of the bitter novel as much as it is a reflexion on it much later with more facts and deeper recollection.
Just this week there was a primary in my home town where the one candidate sent out newsletters to potential voters, telling them a bunch of lies about the opponent, resulting in his win by over 50 percent. Do I think the guy who did this is an asswhole? Well, I don't know him very well (although I did shake his hand once), but I'm just assuming he did this out of the stress of working so hard to run for political office and worrying that it may result in nothing.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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