Disillusioning and Disappointing
Primary Colors Falls to Its Own Ambiguity

By now I'm sure there is no registered voter in America who hasn't heard about Primary Colors, the thinly fictionalized account of President Clinton's campaign published under the "Anonymous" pseudonym. The movie, likewise, has generated its own share of controversy.

In Primary Colors, John Travolta plays Gov. Jack Stanton, a good ol' boy Southern governor with dreams of becoming the Democratic nominee for President. From the moment we meet him, we're supposed to be awed by his compassion and convincing rhetoric, but underneath the friendly handshake and smile there's a layer of slime.

The story follows Henry Burton (Adrien Lester), a young idealist who is asked to join Stanton's campaign as his campaign manager. Henry goes to meet with the Governor, only to be whisked away with the campaign when they fly to New Hampshire. Soon, it is apparent that Henry has also been whisked away, not in part by the Governor's sincerity and charm.

What seems unreal are the moral ambiguities which Henry accepts in his candidate. When he goes to the Governor's hotel room, he sees Stanton exiting the bedroom with a librarian (both in a disheveled state). When Henry's girlfriend (a reporter for The Black Advocate) starts digging up dirt on Stanton, he pushes it off as a necessary evil. He wants so hard to believe in Stanton, that consultant Richard Jemmons (Billy Bob Thornton), labels him as having "TB", "true-believer syndrome".

Playing Jack's faithful and desperate wife is Emma Thompson. While her American accent is nearly flawless, her Susan Stanton comes across as cold and calculating. She is more concerned with how her husband's infidelity will affect the campaign than their marriage.

Kathy Bates does a spectacular job as Libby Holden, an old friend of the Stantons who is hired to find the skeletons in their closet and keep it out of the press. While Libby first appears to be a loose cannon (she had spent time in a mental hospital following a breakdown), it becomes apparent that her fervor is caused by her devout loyalty to both Jack and Susan. Calling herself a "dust buster", she goes to great lengths to protect the Stantons, but when she is asked to turn to the offensive, her morality gets in the way.

The number of characters in the movie becomes something of a challenge, as they come and go without much explanation. Maura Tierney's character Daisy is a perfect example. While she seems nothing but a background character at first, we soon see her in bed with Henry, with little understanding that their relationship had progressed at all. Suddenly, Daisy is gone from the rest of the picture with Thornton's Jemmons, without any effect on Henry. Because the picture's attempt to focus only on Henry and his relationship to the Stanton campaign, the other characters suffer. They seem much less real.

Overall, the movie fails to do more than say "politics is a dirty business." It's one of the few things we all know, even though we, like Harry, want to believe in something greater. It would be nice, in this era of scandal and moral ambiguity, to find a candidate worth believing in. Even if that candidate was only on a movie screen. By the end of the movie, it's depressing to see how many people gave up their morals, principles and standards for a chance to be near glory.

MY RATING: 5 out of 10.

RATED: R
RUN TIME: 134 min.