Primary Colors poster & wallpaper

John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton

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

Flixster Users

56% liked it

16,051 ratings

Critics

80% liked it

66 critics

R, 2 hrs. 20 min.

Directed by: Mike Nichols

Release Date: March 20, 1998

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DVD Release Date: September 8, 1998

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Stats: 557 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (557)

  • stopitgoaway
    December 21, 2008
    stopitgoaway
    #4 Primary Colours
    Okay, technically, Travolta doesn?t play a president in Primary Colours, he plays a presidential candidate. But it can be argued that Travolta?s character - a womanizing, intelligent Southern governor - is based upon the pre-presidential days of one William Jef...( read more)ferson Clinton (Bill to us).
    President Speak: "We can do incredible things. We can change this country. I'm gonna win this thing. Look me in the eye, Henry, and tell me that you don't want to be a part of it."
  • djdemersseman
    March 28, 2008
    djdemersseman
    Definitely an important movie. A bit subversive at parts, but easily the best presidential election movie I've seen. A bit too silly in many parts, but it also manages to be pretty intense near the end. The movie asks a lot of serious questions about politics and yourself.
  • wellmeetagain
    November 23, 2007
    wellmeetagain
    Travolta steals it with some great scenes.
  • AgentLexi2132
    August 15, 2007
    AgentLexi2132
    Was an interesting stab at politics for all its faults.
  • SarahG1988
    August 30, 2006
    SarahG1988
    John Travolta is the spitting image of Bill Clinton in this.
  • magnolia12883
    November 16, 2009
    magnolia12883
    Mike Nichols' epic political satire is a smart, funny look at the process of campaigning for the Presidency through the eyes of maybe the most idealistic campaign manager in political history. Henry Burton (Adrian Lester) is the son of a famous black civil rights leader, on the f...( read more)ence about his "allegiance" to a black congressman, and seeing a reporter for the Black Advocate. Henry's life changes when he's roped into being the campaign manager for the relatively unknown Jack Stanton (John Travolta), a Southern governor with his eye on the White House. Soon, Henry is advising Stanton and wife Susan (Emma Thompson) on the what's and how's of the campaign trail, as well as dealing with his new colleagues: Richard Jemmons (Billy Bob Thornton), a cynical and sleazy redneck (and proud of it) who is perpetually hitting on a Winona Ryder-esque campaign worker; Howard (Paul Guilfoyle), the one that roped Henry in; and the lovely and savvy Daisy (Maura Tierney), who becomes romantically involved with Henry. Nichols and longtime collaborator Elaine May, who based her screenplay on the novel "by Anonymous," manage to cram a ton of material into a 143-minute film, following the campaign through challenges which range from the need to get known in the states they're campaigning in, to weathering the fallout from the Governor's alleged affair with his wife's hairdresser and some suspect answering machine tapes, to an unexpected development involving the teenage babysitter, and finally dealing with multiple opponents for the Democratic nomination. The main opponent turns out to be former Florida Governor Freddy Picker (Larry Hagman of TV's "Dallas"), a goody-two-shoes type who dropped out of the political scene mysteriously in the late 1970s and who finds himself back in the game when a colleague falls ill. Through it all, the Stanton campaign has by its side Libby Holden (Kathy Bates), "the Dust-Buster," a former mental patient who tracks down the sources of dirt and extinguishes potential fires that could derail the Governor's bid for the Presidency - or do in the enemy. We see all of this through Henry's eyes, get an entry-level view of the political process and the business of campaigning, and there are a tremendous amount of laughs along the way. The film is fiercely funny, packed with sharp one-liners and crackling with great dialogue, yet not lacking in pathos. What Henry learns on this journey will stick with him the rest of his life, and we sense, inform his decisions and character well into the future - whether he finds himself working in the White House or not. It probably goes without saying that this film wears its parallels to Bill and Hillary Clinton on its sleeve, and they are indeed rather obvious. This is nevertheless a great film on its own merits. The performances are uniformly excellent: from Travolta's smarmy Southern charmer with a corrupt heart, to Lester's doe-eyed "true believer," to Thornton's James Carville-inspired letch. A standout for me, however, was Emma Thompson as the Hillary-inspired Susan, a strong, intelligent and dry-witted woman who knows her husband is unfaithful but looks the other way until the public humiliation becomes too much to bear, who stands by him despite the egg on her face. Then there's Kathy Bates. As the aging ex-hippie earth-mother Libby, she gives the film a moral center, gets some of the funniest lines, and gives two of the most heartbreaking mini-monologues you could've ever heard. Her Libby is a firecracker of a creation, an old-school hillbilly who knows the game, fights hard, plays fair to a point, and yet has a line she will not cross. It's at that line that the film finds its heart, and we are surprised how involved we've become and how much we've been moved. Mike Nichols ("The Graduate," "The Birdcage") is an intelligent director who knows how to make solid comedies, and here reaches beyond his own personal best. This is one of the year's best films!
  • odonoghuematthew
    November 13, 2009
    odonoghuematthew
    Best Supporting Actress 1998
  • samanthaseaotter
    August 6, 2009
    samanthaseaotter
    Surprised that Travolta - a card-carrying Democrat - would spoof his dear friend Bill. Still, he does it extremely well. Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates and Billy Bob Thorton are all excellent.
  • moviemaniacgirl
    July 21, 2009
    moviemaniacgirl
    Besides the Emma Thopson this looks stupid to me.
  • steven544
    May 2, 2009
    steven544
    I thought "Primary Colors"
    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 fo...( read more)r 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.

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Critic Reviews

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie is endlessly inventive and involving. full review

January 1, 2000
David Edelstein, Slate

It's hard for me fully to express how deeply rotten I think Primary Colors is. Adjectives like 'glib,' 'coarse,' and 'sour' don't fully do it. full review

January 1, 2000
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The movie loses something by downplaying the book's arresting contrast between Stanton's smooth dishonesty and Picker's raw sincerity. full review

View more Primary Colors reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • pic055000
    January 8, 2007
    pic055000
    John Travolta man did everyone wanted to ruin his election day.

    Good movie saw 7 times love it.
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