John Travolta could have not have pulled it off any better.

Primary Colors, Nichols' second feature with screenwriter and former stand-up comedy partner Elaine May, is mainstream filmmaking at its most accomplished.

The performances are splendid, beginning with Travolta's magnificent turn as the big-hearted but hardballing man with 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on his horizon.

A terrible missed opportunity occurred 27 years ago. When “Primary Colors” was released in March 1998, critics and audiences alike focused on the movie’s sexual content rather than its substantive views on tariff policy.