True Colors

True Colors (1991), Herbert Ross's Washington political drama, is available to watch online on iFILM. John Cusack and James Spader play law school roommates who end up on opposite sides of a moral line: Peter (Cusack), raised working-class, decides early that principles are a luxury he cannot afford; Tim (Spader), old money and idealistic, is slower to reach the same conclusion.

The script follows their careers from ambition through compromise to outright betrayal, with Mandy Patinkin and Richard Widmark in supporting roles. What makes it work is Cusack's Peter staying likeable right up to the moment he is not — the kind of politician who is warm to your face and ruthless the second you look away. Stream True Colors online on iFILM.