Primary Colors (the book) caused a furore when it was published in 1996. Attributed to Anonymous, it’s an apparently fictionalised account of the real 1992 Democratic primary. We now know the book was written by Joe Klein, a Washington DC reporter, and we also know that the exploits of the Clinton-esque Jack Stanton weren’t a patch on what the real President Clinton would eventually get up to.
I haven’t read the book but, after seeing the film, I’ve added it to my list. The film is interesting, entertaining and intriguing (part of the fun, of course, is guessing who each character is based on and how much of it is true), with great performances from John Travolta (doing an impressive Clinton impersonation), Adrian Lester as the naive staffer who wants to believe Jack is “the real thing,” Emma Thompson as Jack’s wife Susan (she doesn’t do an impression of Hilary, but she does do an American accent that I thought was a bit patchy) and Kathy Bates. There’s even a brief but memorable appearance by Allison Janney, The West Wing’s CJ. In fact the film is rather like an extended episode of The West Wing, but without the humour (like seasons 5, 6 and 7 of The West Wing then).
Well worth a watch.
