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Movies / On DVD / Primary Colors
Primary Colors

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Primary Colors (1998)

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79 %
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Reviews Counted:73

Fresh:58

Rotten:15

Average Rating:7.2/10

Consensus: Well acted and suprisingly funny.

Runtime: 2 hrs 24 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: In Mike Nichols's PRIMARY COLORS, America's topsy-turvy political process is viewed through the eyes of Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), an idealistic young man who is seduced into managing the... In Mike Nichols's PRIMARY COLORS, America's topsy-turvy political process is viewed through the eyes of Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), an idealistic young man who is seduced into managing the presidential campaign of slick southern governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta). The mesmerized Burton immediately sets up campaign headquarters and meets his new political family: Susan Stanton (Emma Thompson), Jack's wife and partner; Richard Jemmons (Billy Bob Thornton), the sly, improbable political strategist who proudly describes himself as a redneck; Libby Holden (Kathy Bates), the fanatically loyal, overtly lesbian campaign troubleshooter who always has a big mouth and occasionally carries a big gun to match; and Daisy (Maura Tierney), the young, smart, and looking-for-love campaign media adviser. The film is based on the controversial best-selling novel by Anonymous (Joe Klein). Travolta's dead-on, thinly disguised Clinton impersonation alone is well worth seeing. [More]

Starring: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton

Starring: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton, Adrian Lester, Maura Tierney, Larry Hagman, Allison Janney, Paul Guilfoyle

Director: Mike Nichols

Director: Mike Nichols
Screenwriter: Elaine May
Producer: Mike Nichols

[See More Credits]

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Release:

May 4, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Primary Colors

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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Despite the political milieu's rampant cynicism, the movie remains optimistic -- no mean feat.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

No review available.

comment Comment
02/27/01
USA Today

No review available.

comment Comment
07/12/02
Globe and Mail

A gripping drama edged with sly humour.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/01/00
Almar Haflidason
Almar Haflidason
BBC

The sad part is that while any old hack could have directed Primary Colors about as well as Nichols did, the kinds of movies that only Mike Nichols' brains and sensibility could produce hardly ever get made anymore.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner

Both a celebration and an indictment of the American political system.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
rec.arts.movies.reviews

A great cast -- led by a charming Travolta, an effectively steely Emma Thompson and a perfectly foul-mouthed Kathy Bates -- relishes the lines and bites the hand that governs them.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob McCabe
Bob McCabe
Empire Magazine

A first-rate satire.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

Director Mike Nichols never allows Primary Colors to get bogged down in a moralistic morass.

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

A slack, tepid picture stuck in a no man's land between satire and drama.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

It used to be that we had to wait 20 years for the fictionalization of history -- now that gap seems to have closed to less than five years. Kinda sad. But also kinda entertaining!

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Chris Gore
Chris Gore
Film Threat

Worth a look, but don't expect any great insights into the workings of the system ... or the workings of Clinton's mind.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Maintains a fairly deft sense of irony and emotional resourcefulness with regard to its subject, which is, most broadly, the complicated interrelations among politics, sex, ethics and the press.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper

A great political pot-boiler.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

This entertaining but rather peculiar movie asks extraordinary questions, and I wish it were better equipped to give the answers.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Denby
David Denby
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 Source: Slate | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
Slate

Primary Colors has all the right intentions.

Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Keyes
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org

Striking an excellent balance between wry cultural critique and crisp entertainment value, the picture is as smart and funny as any comedy-drama in recent memory.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

The film owes a few doggie bones to "Wag the Dog," which came first in pointing out what Primary Colors only seconds.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/03/08
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

As satire, it's toothless and indulgent; as drama of conscience, it's not a patch on real life...

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
 
 
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