Primary Colors (1998)

What happened to Adrian Lester's career? He was quite good in this film but has barely had a role of this caliber since. What a shame.
Henry Burton (Lester) is a grandson of a civil rights leader and is recruited by Governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta) to be his campaign manager and he accepts this. At first, Stanton seems like a genuine human being though that is instantly short-lived as he comes out of his office with no tie and an Allyson Janney buttoning up her blouse.
While Stanton does want the best for the country, he is also slimy. Now, protesting the Vietnam War isn't that wretched but having his record expunged, probably not the wisest move, but his biggest issue is that he sleeps with other women, women who are not his wife, including a teenager. And he feels that he might the father of the young woman's baby so he has his uncle submit blood for the test so yeah.
But all the cover ups and sleazy tricks work. Stanton wins. And it is an interesting ride with a great cast of supporting characters despite the predictable twists. I knew that Stanton would be having affairs left and right, which he was. I knew that Henry would soon start sleeping with fellow campaigner Daisy (Maura Tierney) and when one of Stanton's opponents stated that he dropped out of politics twenty years ago, for personal reasons I knew that it was secretly for drugs, which it was, big time. However, it was unclear why Daisy leaves the Stanton campaign, which is super annoying.
The film really gets interesting when Libby (Kathy Bates) is brought back into the Stanton's lives. She is crazy, and has spent time in a mental hospital but she's fiercely loyal, which ultimately leads to her downfall. She fully deserved her Oscar nomination.
And while the film has a good meaning, always take the high road, it is just so upsetting that all politicians are lying bags of scum. But at least the acting is impeccable. Grade: B
Side Notes:
-Emma Thompson is great as a Hillary Clinton lookalike as Stanton's loyal but pissed off wife.
-Billy Bob Thornton is another worker on the campaign who is not a racist but is inappropriate with another staffer, whipping out his penis. But she just laughs it off, thank goodness.