True Colors (1991)

John Cusack Film Fest Movie #1 (Please click the links to read my reviews of Sixteen Candles, City Hall, Bob Roberts, Broadcast News and The Thin Red Line) – and yes, that’s one ugly VHS clamshell package!

Synopsis: Social-climbing, back-stabbing proletarian turd betrays kind-hearted bourgeois buddy, loving heiress, and benevolent blue-blood patriarch.

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: "They're the best of friends. Soon, they'll be the worst of enemies. John Cusack (The Grifters, Say Anything) and James Spader (sex, lies and videotape, White Palace) star in thie dramatic, absorbing story of two friends who move from law school to Washington's corridors of power."

What Did I Learn?: If an automobile accident is totally your fault, the best course of action is to get out of your car, yell and scream at the other driver, and attempt to shift the blame.

You Might Like This Movie If: You enjoy a good back-stabbing.

Really?: 1) I had a great deal of trouble believing Tim (Spader) would have anything to do with Peter (Cusack) after he admitted to a year-long affair with the only woman that ever meant anything to Tim. 2) Funny how Peter doesn’t get suspicious when Tim asks a whole bunch of weird questions about his questionable dealings with the local gangster. 3) So, Peter’s name-change, and questionable campaign funds never come up during his campaign for Congress? Who’s his opponent – Mary Poppins? 4) Not that many novice skiers would attempt a trail that begins with a near-drop, and runs through a pine forest!

Rating: True Colors is an enjoyable, but somewhat contrived and not terribly memorable tale of friendship, ambition and betrayal. While it’s fun to watch Cusack and Spader play against type (usually, Spader plays the scumbag while Cusack is the all-American nice guy), it’s tough to believe that nobody except the rival political staffer can see through Peter’s act until the end of the movie, and the film’s strange class snobbery is a bit off-putting. 6.5/10 stars.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103125/