The War Room (1993) Reviews

• Revealing, but Skewed

  miggsathon2005-08-13

  The War Room does a good job of extolling the skills of James Carville and George Stephanopolous. Clearly, their work had much to do with Clinton's victory. A little known fact about the film is that the actual campaign manager, David Wilhelm, refused to participate in it. He didn't like the idea of a camera crew roaming the headquarters and recording conversations that he felt should have been private. Clinton overruled him, of course. As a result, the documentary skews history a bit. The nuts and bolts of running a campaign are ignored while the craft of spin doctoring is glorified. In a visual medium, that's not altogether surprising, and it may even have been unavoidable. But the misrepresentation -- or rather, the selective representation -- has had the unintended consequence of contributing to public cynicism about political campaigns, which now appear to be all about the spin, the framing -- the very things that make voters feel like they're being manipulated. Perhaps a stronger emphasis on the heavy lifting of door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, meetings with interest groups, outreach to local officials, event set-up, and the like, would have given a more complete picture. Then again, those aren't exactly telegenic activities, and documentary filmmakers may have been hard-pressed to incorporate them even if Wilhelm had cooperated. But the troublesome implications remain, and are worth considering.

  More

• Fascinating and hilarious

  jaffray1999-06-27

  I first saw this at Doc Films at the University of Chicago. I was expecting it to be interesting, but dry. Wow, was I wrong. The entire audience was enthralled and frequently laughing their heads off. You couldn't make up comedic characters like these if you tried. James and George are just amazing. (Of course, there would be times where HALF the audience was laughing, split along party lines. :-) ) The filmmakers also liven up the proceedings with good choices of music and little bits of Americana tossed in here and there. Invite over all your political junkie friends, get a few beers, rent this movie, and enjoy.

  More

• A Political Education

  J.Bond1999-05-24

  As a student of Political Sciences, I believe this to be one of the most fascinating and introspective documentaries regarding the subject of campaigning. The first modern campaign, the 92 Clinton war is an amazing melodrama of quick rises to power, downfalls, villains, heroes, and the precursor to one of the most vicious political battles of our nation's history. In the film, if you look hard enough, you see the seeds of weakness being sown which would lead to an awesome political showdown which is more grand, more high-stakes, and more dark than the plotline of any film in this database. Note: If you like "The War Room," read Woodward's "The Agenda."

  More

• Impressive

  jasondavis2005-01-07

  I have to admit, I came into watching this film with somewhat low expectations, as the last political documentary I watched was "The Hunting of the President" which I found to be ultimately a weak film, with little to no focus on politics whatsoever. As somewhat of a political junkie, I was impressed by this film's portrayal of what seems to be a rather honest look into the workings of a presidential campaign. However, I think the film misses a few point where it could focus on the actual strategies being made, but it chooses more to focus on the people making the strategies. It gives an interesting look into the "reality" of the campaign, but leaves the overall strategies left mostly unexplained. Still a good film though, enjoyed it a lot. Oh, and by the way, the previous reviewed was right on the mark saying that if you liked this you should read "The Agenda" by Bob Woodward. Same sort of style.

  More

• More Shameless Propaganda For The Liberals & The Clintons

  ccthemovieman-12007-06-12

  You know all you need to know about this "documentary" with a statement George Stephanopoulos makes early to reporter Sam Donaldson. Stephanopoulous, a member of the unbiased (ahem) media since the end of the Clinton Administration and a former member of said administration, looks Sam right in the eye and says, with all sincerity, that Bill Clinton's "character has never been in doubt." Yeah, right. Well, if you want a lot more Liberal slants, especially by another crony, James Carville, this video is for you. It's all about how wonderful the Clintons are and how they got elected by smart guys like the above-mentioned pair. Actually, it's more of a praise-a-thon to Stephanopoulos and Carville than Mr. Bill. By the way, Hollywood would never make something like this if a Republican had won. They are only thrilled enough to make something like this if a Democrat wins. One other thing: it was a shock to see this on tape a couple of years after it was made just to see how young Clinton looked. It's amazing how quickly the job of President of the United States can age you.

  More