The War Room

Released 1993
Featuring James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Heather Backel, Paul Begala, Stan Greenberg, Mickey Kantor, Mary Matalin
Directed by D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus

Documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back) and Chris Hegedus shot behind-the-scenes at command central for Bill Clinton's 1992 election campaign and came up with this film. You won't find the kind of daily damage-control and skirt-chasing indirectly alleged in Primary Colors, but the filmmakers do give us a strong sense of the uphill battle of a presidential campaign. The center of the film is really James Carville, who steered the machine for Clinton's '92 run and who comes across in this film as a deeply passionate, complex, and somehow timeless man who could have fit into any chapter of American history.

Summary by Tom Keogh

I was disappointed with this behind-the-scenes feature, because there isn't much war room strategy. I wanted to see how Carville, Stephanopoulos and Clinton pulled off this miracle, but Clinton is almost wholly absent. There are a couple of phone conversations with him, but nothing substantial is discussed. It's essentially a home movie with no point of view. It sorely needed some narration or text on the screen to give us some context. On the plus side, however, it's a blast watching James Carville. He's a lot of fun, and he eats anyone who tries to stand up to him for lunch. His girlfriend and counterpart (the chief strategist for Bush), Mary Matalin, is the same on the other side, but her Republican rants are as tired as George Bush was. I wish I could see a movie about their romance, because they're such strong personalities with completely opposite views. I know they wrote a book, but I'm not interested enough to sit down and read that monster. Anyway, Clinton's main character flaw, his unwillingness to accept responsibility for his actions, comes through right from the start. It begins with the Gennifer Flowers scandal, the draft-dodging charge, and the anti-war protests. There were times when he should have just accepted responsibility, which would have put the topics to rest. Some good examples are the things he did in college. He could have faced those charges head-on and actually used them to his advantage instead of constantly being on the defensive with little white lies. It was this flaw that incensed Republicans and led to his downfall. --Bill Alward, May 21, 2002