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Primary Colors

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 14, age appropriate for kids over 16; suggested age 14.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0

  • Common Sense says

    Well-acted drama full of Clinton-era jabs.

updated 07.04.08

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 14–16

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    It's an ethical quagmire, but at least the script addresses this. A presidential hopeful is a married womanizer, his wife is an unloving, ambitious schemer, and their staff is full of enablers. The one character with scruples kills herself over it.

  • Violence :

    A glimpse of the body of a suicide-by-gunshot.

  • Sex :

    No action, but characters discuss sex and scandal in and out of bed. A man in an office setting shows a female co-worker his penis (out of the frame). One character is a lesbian, another confesses to a homosexual affair.

  • Language:

    Much gutter language ("f--k," etc.) among the powerful and influential.

  • Consumerism:

    Panasonic, Krispy Kreme, and Larry King's show all get plugs.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Social drinking. Discussions of cocaine use.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Primary Colors

Parents need to know that this drama (based on the book by the same name) is a thinly veiled take on the scandals of Bill Clinton's presidency. Even though the movie's characters are seeking the highest office in the land, they still cuss like longshoremen. Ethically, they're also in the gutter. The Jack Stanton character, presidential material, is a womanizer who makes no apologies (just perpetual cover-ups) for his personal flaws, yet charms us as much as he's supposed to charm the voters. The character who seems the most principled commits suicide.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the way Stanton's supporters stick by him, sometimes in spite of themselves, just for the chance to grab power (although allegedly to do some good for society down the line). Many claim that all our presidential-class politicians -- even "Honest Abe" Lincoln -- told folksy lies and played dirty to get into the White House and that that goal justifies their misdeeds. Parents can ask their kids if they agree with this, and whether the movie Stantons are like other real-life candidates, not just the Clintons.
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