Primary Colors (1998)
Directed by Mike Nichols
In this adaptation of the best-selling roman à clef about Bill Clinton's 1992 run for the White House, the young and gifted Henry Burton is tapped to oversee the presidential campaign of Governor Jack Stanton. Burton is pulled into the politician's colorful world and looks on as Stanton -- who has a wandering eye that could be his downfall -- contends with his ambitious wife, Susan, and an outspoken adviser, Richard Jemmons.
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What critics compared Primary Colors to
Borrowing from French literary history (see roman à clef), the term applies to a film that is a thinly veiled portrait, often satirical, of a real-life figure; think of John Travolta’s version of Bill Clinton in Primary Colors, Orson Welles doing an loose approximation of William Randolph Hearst in Citizen Kane, or even Meryl Streep’s glacial take on Anna Wintour in The Devil Wears Prada.
I don't know if Spielberg, Hanks, and DiCaprio had our last president on their minds, but Catch Me If You Can feels more like The Bill Clinton Story than Primary Colors (1998).
The vessel is overseen by a tough-talking cat-like alien named Captain Amelia (Emma Thompson, Primary Colors) and her trusted first officer, Mr. Arrow (Roscoe Lee Browne, "The Cosby Show").
"Catch 22," "Carnal Knowledge," "Silkwood," "The Birdcage," "Primary Colors" and this past years HBO triumph, "Angels in America."
Director Mike Nichols (“Primary Colors”) accentuates this approach, ignoring character development and flashing forward in time to juxtapose the sweet beginnings with the bitter endings, casting both as equally fake and empty.
He's been reaching a renewed artistic maturity in recent years, though, with such solid pictures as "The Birdcage" and "Primary Colors" reaching the wide screen.
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Work from the likes of cinematographer Michael Ballhaus ("The Legend of Baggar Vance," "Primary Colors"), production designer Dante Ferretti ("Titus," "Meet Joe Black") and costume designer Sandy Powell ("Far From Heaven," "The End of the Affair") is more than exemplary.