True Colors

Kevin Wade's thought-provoking script is the strong point of Herbert Ross's True Colors (1991), an absorbing study in both governmental and human politics, starring John Cusack and James Spader as Peter Burton and Tim Gerrity, respectively, an odd couple who meet in law school, become best friends, and take decidedly different paths. Gerrity, loathe to accept the moral relativism of the times, takes a job in the Justice Department, going after corporate scumbags, while Burton signs on at Capitol Hill as a stringer for a senator. His unorthodox ways of getting things done earn Burton equal amounts of respect and distaste, and when he eventually seeks a seat in the House of Representatives, his and Gerrity's paths cross again. In the heat of the political race, Burton shows his "true colors," and Gerrity is left to choose between friendship and ethics. A surprisingly meaty two-character study, True Colors rises above its Hollywood underpinnings to offer a compelling portrait of an ethical code trying to survive in the backwash of modern politics. Although extra-less, the DVD sports a decent transfer, as well as a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Recommended. (R. Pitman)