Primary Colors

Name: Primary Colors
Released: 1998-3-20
Cast: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester

Primary Colors

R
2h 23m
1998

81%

age 15+

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John Travolta leads an all-star cast (including Oscar® winners Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates and Billy Bob Thornton) on a wild race to the presidency in this savagely funny comedy. Jack Stanton (Travolta) is a virtually unknown Southern governor on a quest for the White House with his strong, savvy and equally ambitious wife, Susan (Thompson). Running against the odds, the Stantons need all the help they can get from their extremely colorful political team. Together, they take off on a hilarious, heart-wrenching and ultimately history-making roller coaster ride to the top.

Director:

Mike Nichols

Producer:

Mike Nichols

Writer:

Elaine May

Cast:

John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester, Maura Tierney, Larry Hagman, Paul Guilfoyle, Diane Ladd, Rob Reiner, Mykelti Williamson, Tony Shalhoub, Allison Janney

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

TOMATOMETER®

81%

Critics Consensus: Well acted and suprisingly funny.

Reviews

Associated Press

Hillel Italie

Primary Colors, Nichols' second feature with screenwriter and former stand-up comedy partner Elaine May, is mainstream filmmaking at its most accomplished.

The performances are splendid, beginning with Travolta's magnificent turn as the big-hearted but hardballing man with 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on his horizon.

If you take away the eerie similarities to the Clinton campaign,Primary Colors serves as a fine satire in its own right.

Primary Colors perfectly captures the spirit of its topic and time to become The Big Chill of politics.

Well-acted drama full of Clinton-era jabs.

June 22, 2017

FULL REVIEW

Common Sense Media

age 15+

Common Sense Says

Well-acted drama full of Clinton-era jabs.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this drama (based on the book by the same name) is a thinly veiled take on the scandals of Bill Clinton's presidency. Even though the movie's characters are seeking the highest office in the land, they still cuss like longshoremen. Ethically, they're also in the gutter. The Jack Stanton character, presidential material, is a womanizer who makes no apologies (just perpetual cover-ups) for his personal flaws, yet charms us as much as he's supposed to charm the voters. The character who seems the most principled commits suicide.