Primary Colors (1998)

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

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Joe Klein (novel), Elaine May (screenplay)

Stars:

John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Jack Stanton is running for president. The election is seen through the eyes of young Henry Burton. Along the way Stanton must deal with a sex scandal.

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Plot Keywords:

candidate | governor | president | honor | politics | 

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Taglines:

He was born to run

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language and sexual references

Details

Country:

France UK Germany USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 March 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mit aller Macht

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£238,918 (UK) (30 October 1998)

Gross:

£497,545 (UK) (6 November 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Award Entertainment, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Icarus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mel Gibson was considered to play the lead but was turned down in favor of John Travolta.

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Goofs

During the Mill speech you can see 2 TelePrompTers hidden in the crowd that John Travolta's character uses to give his dialog. In the reverse shot (back of his head) the TelePrompTers are removed from the shot.

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Quotes

Gov. Jack Stanton: I'm going to tell you something really outrageous. I'm going to tell you the truth.

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Connections

References A Current Affair (1986)

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Soundtracks

"YOU'RE A GRAND OLD FLAG"
Written by George M. Cohan

User Reviews

Much better than I was expecting

I thought "Primary Colors" (1998:***) 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 for 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.