03/20/98
MOVIE REVIEW: Primary Colors
Primary Colors' has many hues

By MICHAEL JANUSONIS
Journal-Bulletin Arts Writer

*** (out of five)
Starring John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester, Maura Tierney, Larry Hagman, Diane Ladd. A Universal picture written by Elaine May, directed by Mike Nichols. Rated R, contains profanity, adult themes. Running time: 143 minutes.

It doesn't take much of a leap to find yourself on the Clinton campaign trail for the Democratic nomination for president in Primary Colors.

Most of the characters in Joe Klein's best-selling book (whose authorship some people still coyly refer to as "Anonymous," as he originally penned it) were based on real individuals -- from Bill and Hillary to George Stephanopolous, James Carville and Gennifer Flowers -- and they're played close to form in Mike Nichols's detailed film.

Sometimes things are so close to the news headlines that it seems we're watching a dramatic re-creation of events rather than a movie. On the printed page, for political junkies, it must have seemed pretty juicy stuff. Oddly, on screen, this imitation of life is the very thing that keeps us from getting completely involved in the film's characters and sometimes stranger-than-strange events.

For me, it wasn't until the last 20 minutes or so of this extensively detailed movie that any character sprang to life in a genuine, emotional moment. And then there were two: Kathy Bates in an Oscar-quality scene in which her Libby Holden, an old political hand at fixing things up for candidates in trouble, realizes that her political idealism has been smashed again; and John Travolta -- a dead ringer for Clinton in speech and mannerisms, if not appearance -- explaining to his still-idealistic political aide about the real truths of political life and the compromises that must be made.

Those two sequences had the power, soul and truth that was missing through much of the rest of the film.

Although Travolta's Gov. Jack Stanton often comes across positively in Primary Colors -- a well-meaning, glad-handing, often sincere individual ("I feel your pain") -- the ever-spreading chinks in his armor leave one feeling curiously ambivalent about him, his campaign and the presidency itself as the film goes on. When the prize is finally won at the end, it seems a hollow victory.

The film is told from the standpoint of Henry Burton (British actor Adrian Lester). The grandson of an idolized civil rights leader, Henry is looking to support a candidate who shares his idealism, his vigor, his genuine caring for the people.

When he first sees Stanton, who cries during a meeting with poor people who have raised themselves up by learning to read at an inner-city literacy center, Henry is dazzled. When Stanton -- governor of a small, backward, unnamed Southern state -- tells them a sob story about his war-hero uncle, Henry figures that he has found his hero. He knows it for sure when he sees how easily Stanton moves among the people, even hugging them.

Unfortunately, Henry doesn't pay much heed to the fact that some of Stanton's story seems to have been fabricated for the cameras. Henry's too blinded by the facade of theatrics to worry about minor details, or about the fact that Jack Stanton seems to have an uncomfortable fondness for the ladies.

Much of the film follows Henry on the campaign trail, from New Hampshire to New York to Washington to Stanton's home town, although it's not always clear in the film where we are at any particular point since every place pretty much looks like everywhere else.

Wonderland of characters

Nichols and long-ago comedy partner Elaine May, who wrote the script, painstakingly present a wonderland of characters for Henry to encounter, although we seem to know them since they're so closely based on real people.

There's Emma Thompson's abrupt, businesslike Susan, the governor's wife. She's the brains of the operation, as opposed to Jack, who is its heart.

There's Billy Bob Thornton's self-styled redneck political strategist who views himself as an earthy populist. Early in the campaign he exposes himself to a young female campaign worker.

There's Bates's overtly lesbian, heart-on-her-sleeve political troubleshooter, who once had a nervous breakdown when a campaign to which she had devoted herself suddenly fell apart.

There's Larry Hagman's too-good-to-be-true Democratic opponent for the party nomination, who does and says all the right things while Stanton scrambles to stay afloat. Hagman has a wonderfully honest moment late in the film.

There's Gia Carides's Cashmere McCloud, the first woman to claim at a press conference that she was once the president's paramour.

And there's Travolta's Gov. Jack Stanton, a fried-chicken-eating, doughnut-scarfing smooth operator who at least had his ideals a long time ago and, more importantly for his campaign, can still sell himself that way. Stanton already knows what Henry must learn about politics -- that to stay alive in this high-stakes world, compromises must be made.

Soon Stanton is trying to cover up or put positive spins on rumors of his many extramarital affairs; of his using influence to get himself out of tight corners. Curiously, he's often a background character, gregariously backslapping and shaking hands via Travolta's affable impersonation of Clinton, a prop to be paraded in front of the cameras. Shadowy and slick, the film rarely lets us see the real Jack Stanton, as the focus shifts to his underlings, who do the dirty work.

Bates is best

For most of the film, Lester plays Henry as a naive babe in the woods blinded by the glamorous smoke-and-mirror show that the Stantons have erected around themselves. He should be the character we identify with, but he's a blank page. He's overwhelmed by the others, especially by Thompson's smart, steely Susan, who becomes Lady Macbeth.

Thompson gets to slap men's faces hard so many times in Primary Colors, that it becomes her signature. For her, a shrewd, poker-faced player, the campaign has become the only goal worth winning any longer.

Coming off best is Bates, with the meatiest role she's had in a long time -- a plain-spoken "dust-buster" whose past breakdown gives her a wild, unexpected streak. Her Libby's mistake is that she becomes too emotionally caught up with the heroes she has created in her own mind. She becomes the film's true tragic character.

In the end, the film is about discovering that our heroes are not as sterling as they portray themselves or as we'd like them to be. The truth leads to disappointment for Henry, who finds that power does indeed corrupt and that he must close at least one eye on his principles if he is to remain a player.

Nichols keeps the film humming so that you're caught up in the fascinating situations and may not realize it's almost 21/2-hours long. But it's maybe a little too cool and razor-sharp. In the end, there are no heroes. Instead of the euphoria we want at the end of Primary Colors, we feel betrayed by our leaders once again.