Primary Motive

Stars: Judd Nelson (Relentless, New Jack City), Richard Jordan (The Mean Season, Shout), Justine Bateman (TV's "Family Ties", Satisfaction), Sally Kirkland (JFK, Anna, The Best Of the Best). Primary Motive opens with such a barrage of political clichés--delivered by the thespian giant Judd Nelson, no less--that one is tempted to bail out and just watch C-SPAN instead. But then a funny thing happens on the way to the credits--the film begins to tackle some issues. Nelson plays Andy Blumenthal, a wet-behind-the-ears cub campaign aide who's been promoted to the position of press secretary of his man Eastham largely because of his father's political career. When Blumenthal discovers that Eastham's opponent Chris Poulas (Jordan) has altered his resume a tad (it turns out that he wasn't at Yale or in Vietnam), the boy wonder enlists the aid of a cynical Boston Post reporter and goes for the throat. No surprises yet. But then, in an all too uncomfortably real turn, the Poulas team decides to deny the charges and set a trap for Blumenthal. While you can't accuse Primary Motive of being a "good movie," it does eventually evolve into a semi-interesting one. The clichés don't disappear, but the hard-nosed cynical line which says that a) candidates are really images--not thinking human beings, and b) people are guppies who swallow hooks like chocolate, is given full play here. Although The Candidate sang this particular tune much better, Primary Motive still manages to hit a few of the major notes. Audience: The timing is certainly right for a political corruption movie, and election year interest may spur people to take a look.