Word: kleine
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
This is what presidential candidate Jack Stanton tells his protege Henry Burton at the end of Primary Colors, a new film adapted from the best-selling novel by journalist Joe Klein; and it's the message we're left with after what amounts to an entertaining embellishment of the 1992 Clinton campaign...
There were whispers that after a White House conversation with Travolta, Clinton put pressure on Germany to soften its stance toward the Church of Scientology, of which the actor is an outspoken adherent, and that in return Travolta portrayed Stanton more sympathetically. That rumor gets a sneer from Klein ("I don't think Clinton would change policy toward Germany to get better treatment from John Travolta"), but the actor has warm memories of the chat, in which he says Clinton spoke of an old roommate who had been a Scientologist. Travolta insists his performance wasn't swayed by the President...
...Former White House press secretary Dee Dee Meyers, who had been approached to be political adviser on the film, later asked about the production, but that was curiosity, not a threat. And Nichols did ask Stephanopoulos whether Henry would decide to stick with Stanton through the election--a question Klein left hanging, as did the original cut of the movie. "Well, of course he stays," Stephanopoulos replied. "He'd want to know how things turned...
...there is more than coincidence to the charges of sexual recklessness that have dogged Clinton; it could be something like fate. Says Klein: "Personally, I have no information at all about Bill Clinton's sex life. But leadership is a complicated business, and leaders are complicated people. Often they've been overendowed with all kinds of emotional qualities--not only libidinous ones but also violent ones. And historically, having an interesting sex life is a leading indicator of success in the presidency...
...Pundits and real people have for the moment decided that Bill Clinton is a good President with some bad habits. As Klein says, "The American people have shown that they're pretty sophisticated about this." They may even be sophisticated about why they go to movies. They didn't buy $124 million worth of tickets for The Birdcage because every one of them supported gay family values; they went because they thought they'd have a good time. And as Nichols notes, Primary Colors is, in part, about having a good time--the vertiginous good time Henry has trying...