Mike Nichols and screenwriter Elaine May have produced one of the smartest, funniest political movies of the past 20 years.
Comment
10/15/02
Primary Colors (1998)
79
%
Tomatometer
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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... [More]
Starring: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton
Director: Mike Nichols
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Reviews for Primary Colors
May and Nichols may not be right for the material, especially the Searching for Jimmy Stewart component, which feels more labored as the film proceeds.
01/01/00
Top CriticWorth a look, but don't expect any great insights into the workings of the system ... or the workings of Clinton's mind.
01/01/00
Travolta is amazingly Clintonesque as Stanton, a role that I never believed he could pull off.
01/07/09
To be blunt, Primary Colors is one of the angriest and cynical films about running for political office ever made, but luckily it doesn't allow these two overpowering feelings to crush the film's power as entertainment.
01/01/00
A surprisingly funny and entertaining package.
01/01/00
The picture is so funny at times that you may have trouble controlling yourself.
01/01/00
Primary Colors is one of the best film about politics I have ever seen and is director Mike Nichols best film since The Graduate, 31 years ago.
01/01/01
an alarmingly topical comedy-drama that dredges up far more issues than it can address in its two-and-a-half hours. But give Nichols, writer Elaine May and everyone else an 'A' for effort.
07/31/03
Art imitates life imitates art imitates life in this top-notch, straight-on adaptation about the "fictionalized" account of the 1992 presidential campaign.
01/01/00
The film owes a few doggie bones to "Wag the Dog," which came first in pointing out what Primary Colors only seconds.
11/03/08
The best and worst of Hollywood in one package.
01/01/00
Adapting Joe Klein’s roman a clef of the same name, ferociously witty screenwriter Elaine May and her smooth old compatriot in comedy, director Mike Nichols, have made a zingy drama and have staffed it well.
01/01/00
Top CriticThe 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.
01/01/00
The movie itself makes no judgment. It's smart enough to ask you to do that by yourself and for yourself.
01/01/00
Top CriticStriking 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.
01/01/00
A slack, tepid picture stuck in a no man's land between satire and drama.
01/01/00
Top CriticA smart and savvy piece of work.
02/14/01
Top CriticNichols and May always were a great team, and here they deliver a film with political and social implications but they do not lose sight of the main game.
01/01/00
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