Primary Colors (1998)

An engaging political drama directed by Mike Nichols, with plenty of comic moments. John Travolta plays a governor with presidential ambitions. Emma Thompson (with an American accent) plays his wife. And Adrian Lester plays the campaign manager, who tries to hold true to his idealism despite repeated incidents in which he needs to cover up for the governor’s reported transgressions. 

There’s a lot of dialogue, which gives the film extra richness, and it skilfully explores the relationships between the key characters. It’s not surprising to learn that it was adapted from Joe Klein’s loosely fictionalised account of the 1992 Bill Clinton presidential campaign. Emma Thompson even looks a little like Hilary Clinton at times.

Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates and Larry Hagman all co-star, and all are at their best.

A Simple Plan (1998)

Superb drama. 

Brothers Hank (Bill Paxton) and Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), plus Jacob’s friend Lou (Brent Briscoe), find a crashed aircraft buried in snow in remote, rural Wright County, Minnesota. There’s $4 million inside it, which – after some debate – they decide to keep. That decision changes everything in their lives. 

This is a devastating story. It works as an edge-of-your-seat thriller, but really it’s a profound morality tale. 

Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton are excellent as the conflicted brothers with little in common. Bridget Fonda is great, too, as Hank’s wife who becomes increasingly pulled into the drama of their own making. The escalating situation is perfectly handled by director Sam Raimi. 

The novel, by Scott Smith, is even better.

The Informers (2009)

Muddled adaptation of short stories by Bret Easton Ellis about a bunch of loosely associated dysfunctional, alienated Los Angeles people in 1983.

It completely lacks charm or intrigue. The sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll feels forced and clichéd. None of the characters seems to care about anything, so why should we care about them? It makes the mistake of being every bit as empty, vacuous and depressing as the world it portrays.

There’s an all-star cast including Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder, Mickey Rourke and Chris Isaak, and some of the individual performances are reasonable enough. But none stand out and the film doesn’t really hang together. What works well on the page seems flat and even annoying in this jarring, unrewarding mess.