Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		2.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Primary Colors Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 10, 2019

When Primary Colors first hit store shelves back in 1996 -- when most people still actually bought books off store shelves -- it was a big deal. It was unquestionably a fictionalized account of then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's tumultuous but ultimately successful run for the White House in the lead-up to the 1992 Presidential election, in which Clinton, dubbed "The Comeback Kid" for his resurgence in the Democratic Primary following whispers of an extramarital affair, would ultimately beat out the DNC's crowded field and unseat incumbent Republican George H.W. Bush to win the White House. But the book was not so much noteworthy for telling the story -- even by changing names and fictionalizing certain plot points -- but rather for the mystery behind its author. The book released with a credit to "Anonymous" and hit the market less than year out from the next Presidential election. The author's identity was ultimately revealed to be Newsweek's Joe Klein, Clinton won re-election, and the novel was quickly turned around into a 1998 film starring John Travolta as the Bill Clinton stand-in Jack Stanton.

Southern governor Jack Stanton is running for President, fighting a tough primary campaign against several seasoned and electable opponents, unlike Stanton whose personal shortcomings parade through the process, muddying his name and threatening to destroy his run. The campaign brings aboard a young and idealistic aide named Henry Burton (Adrian Lester) who has jumped ship from a rival campaign. He's deeply impressed with Stanton’s humanity, approachability, sincerity, and personal warmth. But his personal and political world views are slowly shattered when rumors of Stanton’s affairs surface, threatening the campaign’s stability, tarnishing Stanton’s integrity, and pushing his marriage to his wife Susan (Emma Thompson) to the brink. “You will never have to be ashamed to be part of this campaign. You never have to swallow it, suck it, or apologize for it,” Stanton tells Henry in the midst of a particularly heinous crisis. But as the realities of a political campaign and Stanton’s personal shortcomings wear on him, and even as Henry continues to see in Stanton a gifted politician who quickly rises in the polls, deflecting accusations as if made of teflon, the truth of the modern political scene and his boss’ personal shortcomings threaten to alienate him from a campaign on the verge of victory.

Much like Jack Stanton, Primary Colors is infused with charm and rage, comfort and uneasiness, likability and vileness. The movie explores Stanton with steady cadence, holding true in intimate moments in which the candidate spills his heart to supports and wins them over with a homely but calculated speech or as rage strikes and his marriage hits another bump when news of a new allegation comes to light. Director Mike Nichols (The Birdcage, Charlie Wilson's War) maintains a gripping approachability through the story, an even keeled approach through still waters, simmering pots, and boiled-over messes, which seem to define Stanton's campaign, day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. The movie has the benefit of allowing the turmoil and the process to take center stage; the drama necessarily stems from damage control considering savvy audiences will already know Clinton, er, Stanton, wins the primary and the presidential election, so the movie's high points come from reactionary responses and the larger flow rather than pop into existence with the element of surprise. "I just can't catch a break, can I?," Stanton says in one scene, beating his fist on a paper towel dispenser upon learning he may have impregnated a teenage girl, angry not so much at the smoke that follows from his own fires but irritated that he can't have his cake and eat it, too, without it threatening to become public record. Stanton knows the truth, though, and so too does the audience, which is why Nichols and Joe Klein play the movie through Henry's eyes, an outsider who sees the good, the bad, and the ugly inside the campaign and in the man he in some ways admires and in some ways despises. Henry bears witness to how politics, the media, and the candidate himself make an unpalatable soup out of Stanton's life beyond his stump speeches, debate performances, and interactions with voters; it's just a question of whether the voters will bite into the sludge below or the cream that Stanton works to force to the top.

Travolta is terrific as Stanton, capturing the essential bodily mannerisms, vocal cadence, and down-home charm of then-candidate Clinton. He more or less looks the part, with the salt-and-pepper hair and he certainly seems to understand the rhythm of a man who has lived his life in politics, established from the very first shot when Stanton greets people with a handshake and a telling second hand placement which can mean any of several things depending on whether that left hand brushes the back of the other man's hand, touches his forearm, or grasps his shoulder. Travolta keeps Stanton in control in the public light; one of the best scenes is when he's appearing on a radio talk show only to be ambushed by his chief opponent in the race, Senator Lawrence Harris (Kevin Cooney), who is on the other line. Travolta's irritation is obvious to the movie watching audience but the exterior cool is conveyed through the microphone when he wins over audiences with a completely phony answer to a tough question, ultimately leading to his opponent's exit from the race over health concerns. It's a great bit of work from Travolta who is surrounded by several strong performances, including from the iconic Billy Bob Thornton portraying a character named Richard Jemmons who is a stand-in for the equally iconic political strategist James Carville.

Primary Colors Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Just a fun little anecdote to start the review: the movie begins playback immediately upon disc insertion and I wasn't quite ready to start watching as soon as the disc loaded. My receiver was on another input. When I switched over the movie was about 10 minutes in and I literally took one look at the screen and said aloud, "oh my goodness that looks horrible." Sigh. Universal's 1080p transfer for Primary Colors really only takes a few moments to analyze. It's a DVD era upscale and a very typical image for the studio's catalogue releases. Some fare better, some fare worse, but Primary Colors epitomizes the studio's Blu-ray backlog. It's a digitally processed mess. Grain is frozen in place, edge enhancement is obvious, clarity struggles, and details are sloppy and indistinct. The 1080p resolution only calls attention to the deficits rather than masks them. The picture does benefit from the resolution insofar as it's a little more detailed than the DVD but on a big screen the processing is greatly amplified. Clothes, faces, and locations -- hotel rooms, campaign headquarters -- are all less than visually ideal, appearing scrubbed down and showing only core definition rather than intimate detail. Colors are not particularly striking, either. The colorful banners around headquarters show a decent feel for punch but there's very little tonal nuance to be found. Clothes are lacking and skin tones are flat and unappealing. Black levels are decent enough -- there's a nice enough shot pushing in on a Krispy Kreme donut shop in chapter six with the bright neon lights contrasting nicely against fairly deep, albeit relatively flat, nighttime blacks. It's clear Universal has done nothing for the image beyond slapping it onto Blu-ray; fans are sure to be disappointed.

Primary Colors Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Primary Colors' one and only audio option is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track is capable but without flair, reflective the film's fairly pedestrian soundtrack design. Music finds adequate stretch to the sides and good general clarity. Atmospheric effects in various locales, notably outdoors or inside bustling campaign headquarters, does just enough to help listeners identify an environment but not necessarily pull them in. There's not much else to the track. A few one-off effects here and there support as necessary but there's nothing that stands apart that's worthy of written attention or praise. Dialogue is clear and as the primary driver its sound placement and prioritization are vital. Whether hushed discussions, angry tirades, political speeches, or sound bites heard through television speakers, every syllable is audible and well detailed.

Primary Colors Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Primary Colors' Blu-ray release contains no supplemental content. There is no top menu; the pop-up menu offers only the opportunity to toggle subtitles on and off. No DVD or digital copies are included. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Primary Colors Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Not to get into even a hastily written and terribly terse micro-treatise, but remember when politics used to be kind of fun? This reviewer was once upon a time a bonafide political junkie, but no more. Politics rarely seem to be about ideas these days. Gone are divides born of honest disagreement. The political spectrum has devolved into popularity contests and pandering in a manner reminiscent of Idiocracy rather than center on the ideals that founded a great nation. There are many reasons for that, and it's not entirely a new development in the last few years, but gone is even hearty mudslinging, replaced by cruel and unusual character assassinations and absolute hatred for individuals and entire groups of people based on single issues and sincerely held beliefs and deeply rooted consciences. There's no more room for the middle of the road, and it's strange to look back on the story of Bill Clinton, more or less portrayed in Primary Colors, and see in some ways the death of the more moderate politician and the birth of the modern political landscape. Clinton would no doubt be seen as a hard centrist these days, if not too far to the right for the contemporary iteration of the Democratic Party. While politicians like Richard Nixon lost to public scrutiny before anyone knew who Clinton was, it was the convergence of his scandals and the acceleration of new media and hyper scrutiny (albeit after his election) that seemed to launch today's political climate, a climate that described as "toxic" might be too tame. Anyway, the movie is very good but Universal's featureless Blu-ray looks bad. Audio is nothing special and no extras are included. Skip it unless it's priced very aggressively.