Shady Days

In “Primary Colors,” John Travolta plays a liberal presidential candidate eager to help people. He’s also more than a little hungry for power and women as he follows the rocky path to the election. (Rated R)

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You don’t run into political junkies in their mid-teens all that often, so it was refreshing to come across a small group of them at a recent screening of “Primary Colors.”

The two boys and a girl are all from San Juan Capistrano, all 15 and all curious Clinton-watchers. The guys said they were conservative, the girl more liberal; all were intrigued by the film based on the roman a clef by Joe Klein.

“I think it was very good, the way it showed how [the political process] works,” said Evan Cummings. “It was pretty much how I expected things to work.”

It’s all but a given that Klein’s book, originally written under the byline Anonymous, and the Mike Nichols-directed movie are about Bill Clinton’s run for the presidency in ’92. These youngsters didn’t think there was any doubt about that.

“Oh, it was him, of course it was,” said Kyra Lester. “With the way he talked [with a honeyed Southern accent] and everything else, it had to be Clinton.”

His surrogate is Jack Stanton (John Travolta), a governor much like how much of the public sees Clinton. He’s an inveterate womanizer--but also someone honestly trying to help people. He’s not above shading the truth if it means he’s closer to his goals, whether they’re self-serving or altruistic.

“The movie got all of those [personality traits] down,” Kevin West said. “He was Clinton all the way.”

The boys thought the film exposed Clinton’s weaknesses more than it showed what a good man he is. They saw “Primary Colors” as a cautionary tale about politicians who will do anything to get elected.

Both guys were especially disturbed by a scene in which Stanton and his wife (played by Emma Thompson) consider smearing another presidential candidate with information about his past that includes cocaine use and homosexuality.

“That was screwed up, that they would think about doing that to someone,” Kevin said. “That’s how politics is, though.”

On the other hand, Kyra noted, Stanton decides not to destroy the candidate. Though not forgiving Stanton’s flaws, she chose to see how charismatic he is and how he bonded with common folk.

“I’m not sure, [but] I think [Clinton’s] like that too,” Kyra said.

All three did agree on one thing: They were upset by Stanton’s philandering.

It’s a theme set early on in “Primary Colors” when Travolta is seen emerging from a hotel room after obviously having a sexual encounter with a teacher he’d met hours before.

From there, we learn of an affair with a hairdresser and numerous other allegations, including that Stanton was sleeping with the 17-year-old daughter of a friend.

“I don’t think it could be that bad [with Clinton], but it was pretty bad in the movie,” Kyra said. “You can’t do that when you become president; that’s what I think.”

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PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE: Rebecca Solis of Dana Point brought her 11-year-old daughter, Amy, to “Primary Colors,” thinking it would be something of a lesson in politics. She liked the film and believed Amy learned from it.

“I think she may have become bored in parts, [but] I’d give her a little nudge every now and then so she’d concentrate,” Solis said. “I’ll explain to her later about how someone gets elected.”

Solis added that Travolta did a good job portraying Stanton and that the movie, while dealing in adult subjects, wasn’t sensationalistic. The womanizing, she said, was handled delicately and not in a pandering way.

“They had to get into that, but at least they didn’t make a huge deal of it,” Solis said.