Synopsis
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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Cast
- John TravoltaJack Stanton
- Emma ThompsonSusan Stanton
- Billy Bob ThorntonRichard Jemmons
- Adrian LesterHenry Burton
- Maura TierneyDaisy Green
- Paul GuilfoyleHoward Ferguson
- Larry HagmanGov. Fred Picker
- Kathy BatesLibby Holden
- Diane LaddMamma Stanton
- Rebecca WalkerMarch
Recommendations
- 90
Washington Post
Guilty, deftly orchestrated fun. - 90
Film.com
It's as wise and funny and revealing as anything ever created by Mike Nichols and Elaine May. - 90
Newsweek
I expected to laugh; I didn't expect to be moved. - 80
Washington Post
Its palette isn't primary at all: It's full of secondary shadings. - 70
The New York Times
It's a movie struggling with its own identity crisis, and with the obvious constraints created by its subject matter. - 70
The New Republic
The result is glib, often funny, sometimes bumpy, and ultimately depressing. - 70
New York Magazine (Vulture)
This entertaining but rather peculiar movie asks extraordinary questions, and I wish it were better equipped to give the answers. - 70
TV Guide Magazine
An intelligent and very funny satire about the bloody game of American politics.
