Primary Colors (1998)
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During my university years (college to you Americans), I started to get more interested in American politics. It was never the nitty-gritty hawkish side of the political system that interested me, it was the circus like nature of it all that caught my attention. In fact it could have been before my University years because I remember being shocked and then chuckling at what had taken place in the Oval Office between President Clinton and one of his aides.
The film Primary Colors is a thinly veiled attempt to dramatize… well, the drama of President Clinton’s rise to national prominence. It is important to state straight out of the gate that if you’re not interested in American politics (and I’m guessing most TMV readers are), this film may not be for you. I am not sure whether it is a strong enough film based off of its own merits or whether I think it is dope because of the winks and nods to the Clinton clan.
But it is dope and this is mostly because of John Travolta who is brilliant as Clint… Jack Stanton. In fact, everyone in the film is pretty terrific: Emma Thompson shows why I have been in love with her for almost 15 years; Billy Bob Thornton reminds me that the lad has actual talent and that I should stop thinking of him as the man who let Angelina Jolie get away; and Kathy Bates damn near steals the whole show.
I want to praise Adrian Lester, but I can’t… he is terrible and I mean truly terrible. He is so bad that he almost made me want to stop watching. His American accent, the tone of his voice in this film… everything he did was like someone was scratching a blackboard. And I say this as someone who is a fan of his other works and who thinks that normally he is a very charismatic and likable actor – just not in this film.
Anyway, back to John Travolta. What he does in this film is way beyond mere impersonation of the former American President, I think he gets across the attributes that made Clinton so appealing to the public and the people that came into contact with him. I would have voted for Travolta’s Stanton if I was America. He is funny, extremely charismatic and, well, un-politician-like. It makes you question whether we should care at all about a politician’s private life. I think it should matter little – but that is just me. It is a fabulous performance by Mr Travolta and is up there with his turn in Pulp Fiction for me.
I think this film loses its impact towards the end though, when it has to make up a wholly fictionalized ending (I think it is fictionalized anyway). I just think it didn’t know what message it wanted to leave with the audience and that is a shame.
Despite all the downsides, I still think this film is worth a watch. I am sure many on TMV have already seen it, but on the off chance that you haven’t – you should give it a try.
Just a normal everyday bloke writing about films.