Primary Colors

A Southern governor runs in the presidential primaries. He is charismatic, clever and unable to stop himself, and his campaign team has to sell him and bury the scandals at the same time. Mike Nichols directed. The source is Joe Klein's novel, published anonymously in 1996 before his authorship was revealed. Nichols paid over a million dollars for the rights and Elaine May wrote the screenplay. The novel draws on Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. John Travolta plays Jack Stanton, the Clinton figure, and critics agreed he caught the mannerisms. Kathy Bates was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Elaine May for Best Adapted Screenplay. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 80 percent. The box office fell short: 52.1 million dollars against a 65 million budget. The timing caused an argument of its own, since the film arrived while the Clinton and Lewinsky scandal was in the news. Nichols was criticised over one cut: after negative preview reactions he removed a love scene between characters of different races. Who it is for: viewers who like political satire and the mechanics of a campaign. Who it is not for: anyone who does not know the players. The film assumes American politics of 1992 and most of the references now land in empty air.