Primary Colors (1998)

Primary Colors
Directed by Mike Nichols
Starring: Adrian Lester, John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Maura Tierney, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton
Grade: B+

That this particular story holds up in 2013, and continues to be replicated in films such as “The Ides of March,” is more indicative of the unchanging shallow dynamics of American politics than it is of any cinematic habit. Armando Iannucci has clearly modelled his scripts on this sort of political satire, the coarse wit of “In the Loop” perhaps the closest rival to the silly campaign trail melodrama of “Primary Colors,” which features an assemblage of actors (from John Travolta to Maura Tierney) you feel have no right to be as compatible as they are together. The biggest success of the film is that it continues to ask questions of its characters when it could just resolve to become a lesson for Adrian Lester’s lead that idealism in politics is essentially foolish. Even when ‘Colors’ makes its rashest mistake in killing off one of its characters, the refreshingly honest reaction of Travolta’s Presidential candidate offers yet more shade to a script bursting with ideas about how or whether ethics belong in this arena, and comes to an acceptance of political coda without resorting to as surly or solemn a climax as ‘March’ does. The absence of any real villains or preoccupations with blame in “Primary Colors” is a shrewd move, its only critique being of an irreparably damaged system.

In the Mood for Podcast: Episode 37

Episode 37 has reviews of "A Good Day to Die Hard," "Beautiful Creatures," Judd Apatow's "This Is 40," and Foreign Language Oscar nominee "No." We're also predicting the winners of Sunday's Academy Awards.

Head on over to the new site and listen!

Beautiful Creatures (2013)

Beautiful Creatures
Directed by Richard LaGravenese
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Emmy Rossum, Dame Eileen Atkins, Margo Martindale
Grade: B

What is being billed as a potential new franchise aimed primarily at teen audiences – in the vein of “The Hunger Games” or “Twilight” – “Beautiful Creatures,” adapted from a novel by Kami Garcia, shows no signs of limiting itself to romantic young minds.  While this story of love and magic will likely appeal to a target demographic, surrounding the young central couple of Ehrenreich and Englert with a host of reputable actors, from Viola Davis to Dame Eileen Atkins, ensures that the film is more accessible to an older audience. Of course, it helps that LaGravenese’s deft script gives these actors so much to do, the dynamic between the spell-casting members of the mysterious Ravenwood family fascinatingly volatile, Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson’s bristling standoff in a church allowing both actors to flex their acting muscle in ways we haven’t seen in a while, and Emmy Rossum an electric presence as the film's catty villain.

As the young lead of the film, Ehrenreich exerts such charm and charisma, elitist in the way that he observes the narrow-minded members of his small town, itching for an alien form of excitement he gratefully receives. He and Englert have a winning chemistry together, and it’s somewhat of a relief that the strength of their romance isn’t diluted by the overkill of the obstacles and constraints which come between them. Nevertheless, “Beautiful Creatures” has its problems: An excellent first hour is undone by some convoluted plot twists in the second, and its finale strangely appears to betray the already-established mechanics of its world. But once it has you in its stranglehold “Beautiful Creatures” won’t let go, beautifully nostalgic with its horror elements and lovingly new-age in its impression of star-crossed lovers separated by supernature.