Primary Colors (1998)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers (WGA):

Joe Klein (novel)
Elaine May (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

What went down on the way to the top.

Plot:

A man joins the political campaign of a smooth-operator candidate for president of the USA.

Plot Keywords:

Honor | Campaign Manager | Media | Husband Wife Relationship | Blackmail

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 15 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Oct. 7

1:30 PM

MAX

Cast

John Travolta	...	Governor Jack Stanton
Emma Thompson	...	Susan Stanton
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Richard Jemmons
Kathy Bates	...	Libby Holden
Adrian Lester	...	Henry Burton
Maura Tierney	...	Daisy Green
Larry Hagman	...	Gov. Fred Picker
Diane Ladd	...	Mamma Stanton
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Howard Ferguson
Rebecca Walker	...	March
Caroline Aaron	...	Lucille Kaufman
Tommy Hollis	...	William McCullison (Fat Willie)
Rob Reiner	...	Izzy Rosenblatt
Ben Jones	...	Arlen Sporken
J.C. Quinn	...	Uncle Charlie

Also Known As:

Mit aller Macht (Germany)
Perfect Couple (Japan: English title)
Primary Colors (France)
Barwy kampanii (Poland) [pl]
Colores primarios (Argentina) [es]
Colori della vittoria, I (Italy) [it]
Couleurs primaires (Canada: French title) [fr]
Escândalos do Cândidato (Portugal) [pt]
Kirli yaris (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Mit aller Macht (Austria) [de]
Päävärit (Finland) [fi]
Præsidentkandidaten (Denmark) [da]
Primary Colors (Spain) [es]
Segredos do Poder (Brazil) [pt]
Spelet regler (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Spelets Regler (Sweden) (cable TV title) [sv]
Tzev'a Ha-Shilton (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language and sexual references.

Runtime:

143 min

Country:

France | UK | Germany | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

Denmark:7 | Australia:M (re-rating after appeal) | Australia:MA (original rating) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:13 | Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | Argentina:13 | Belgium:KT | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Award Entertainment

Trivia:

The house used as the Picker house is Oak Alley Plantation - same site of Louis' house in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994).

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Gov. Stanton is on "Geraldo" Richard Jemmons compares Henry to Libby "who actually goes crazy when her candidate turns out not to be the rock her church was built on", but his mouth does not sync with "the rock".

Quotes:

[Watching the final scene of "Shane" on television]
Henry Burton: Come back, Shane! Run for president!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

A sparkling cracker of a political thriller

It's said that only the very best actors can compete with children and animals, and to this should be listed bright-eyed, cute-as-a-button young newcomers like Adrian Lester, who steals every scene he's in as an idealistic young aide until a larger-than-life Kathy Bates steamrolls her way onto the crowded scene. This film, based on Clinton's 1990 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination, is a fictionalized, not factual, view of the man and his character and ideals, and quite simply one of the best films ever made about the confusing maze that is American politics.

Just as the American media, spurred on by the Republican witch-hunters, rubbed our noses in the dirt surrounding Clinton's indiscretions, the movie doesn't spare Jack Stanton for his moral weaknesses and poor personal judgements, but makes the point that the dirt grubbing and trivializing media are equally immoral in seeking to denigrate a man's political ideals because of his sexual peccadillos. The media is one Enemy of Truth, but the real Enemy of the People, lurking, malevolent and unseen, in the murky shadows at the edges of this film, is the Republican Party, and it's interesting that it takes a British director to take such a decisive stand, as Hollywood has always been reticent to take sides in the Democrat/Republican debate. The point made here, from the testimony of the battle-scarred "true Believers", from the idealistic young party aides, from the would-be President's wife (an uncanny portrayal of Hillary by a dynamic Emma Thompson) and Stanton himself (although physically unlike Bill Clinton, John Travolta gives a very believable performance), is that the President needs to be a man of the people, to be able to understand the people, and to be able to communicate with the people, despite the lies of his opponents and the mud slinging of the media. If America doesn't always get the President it deserves, it's because these very qualities are often blocked by his political enemies and a sensation-seeking media, particularly the television networks. An uninformed Democracy is no Democracy at all, and it's a mark of the inherent strength of the American people and their political system that it has withstood these obstacles, despite the many mediocre Presidencies we have seen in our times.