For how can viewers look at Primary Colors now in quite the way it was intended? The movie's toothsome female volunteers ("muffins," in the story's parlance) now loom like potential Monicas; Stanton's angry self-pity ("I just can't catch a break, can I?" he complains, after being accused of impregnating a teenager) suddenly sounds less like a joke and more like the next-day transcript of a sour speech. The creepiest scene comes toward the end, when Libby pulls out the DNA tests that prove Stanton's lied to everyone about his sexcapades. After Libby tosses them onto the kitchen table, Susan--perhaps the least sympathetic wronged wife in recent movies--simply turns her back and asks if this means the end of Jack's political career.
"You see, Jack?" Libby says tearfully. "She isn't even upset that you f---ed your 17-year-old babysitter. And you know why? It's never the cheat who goes to hell. It's always the one who he cheated on. That's why you can still talk in that tenderhearted voice about being in it for the folks, and Susie here can only talk in that voice from hell about your political career. Now what kind of s--- is that, Jack? Oh, excuse me. I forgot. It's the same old s---. It's the s--- no one ever calls you on. Ever."
Except, of course, the real Jack Stanton has been called on it. The real Susan Stanton is being forced to live through it. And what happens next--and how it happens, over the next few months and years--is the kind of human drama the dated Primary Colors cannot even begin to touch. Colors: B- Chronicles: C-
[BOX]
Primary Colors 1998 UNIVERSAL $104.99 RATED R
The New Clinton Chronicles 1996 JEREMIAH $19.95 UNRATED
You Might Also Like
- Movie Review Primary Colors (1998) | Lisa Schwarzbaum
- Video Review Primary Colors | Stephen Whitty
- Movie Commentary Favorite fictional presidents: Jack Stanton (1998)
- Pop Culture News ROMAN A CHIEF
- Movie News Tom Hanks is too busy for ''Primary Colors'' (1998) | Cindy Pearlman
- Movie News John Travolta hits pay dirt (1998) | Stephen Schaefer
