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 War Room, The (1993)
Director:
D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
Stars: James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Bill Clinton
Release Company:
October Films
MPAA Rating: NR
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Rules:
Change vs. More of the Same
The Economy Stupid
Don’t Forget Health care
The Debate Stupid
Written across a white board to serve as a reminder of the 1992 Clinton campaign, these rules demonstrate the remarkable inside view of backrooms politics afforded by The War Room. Instead of Madison Avenue types and good ol' boys smoking cigars and brokering deals in the back rooms, the stars of this real life drama are main campaign strategist James ("The Ragin' Cajun") Carville and communications director George Stephanopoulos.
The balding Carville, casually dressed in LSU gear, drinks Budweiser (none of that "Busch" brand) and continually breathes politics behind the scenes. Carville may seem like a down home type guy, but doesn't hide his political sharpness and aggressiveness--the Captain Kirk of the "War Room." His shorter partner, Stephanopoulos, looks like he popped out from the Democratic campaigns of the 1960s, sharply dressed in dark suit and tie topped with a Kennedy styled hairdo, the former Rhodes scholar excels at his job--the Spock of Clinton's enterprise.
Whether you like Bill Clinton or not, D.A. Pennebaker and his wife, Chris Hegedus, capture the most intimate look inside a political campaign ever filmed, and it's doubtful that another candidate would have been as open to the scrutiny--at least one that made it to the "finals." Beginning with the grass roots style campaigning required in the January in Manchester, New Hampshire, where political headquarters compete for office space on main street and where volunteers engage in the most elementary games of ripping down opponents' posters, the documentary clearly demonstrates how competent the Clinton people are.
Long known for his cinema verité style (Bob Dylan's 1965 London tour in Don't Look Back), Pennebaker successfully edits clips to show key moments in the campaign. To show the pattern of scandal threatening to envelope Clinton are visuals to put the campaign's spin (remember the sign on the whiteboard at all times):
1. Carville explaining to the staff how this campaign will be the breakthrough one that won't allow Republican muckrucking of Roger Ailes to derail the campaign--remember Muskie.
2. Clips from Jennifer Flowers press conference, where she admits that the Republican party asked her to come forward (someone in the crowd asks her if Clinton used a condom)
3. Carville handling the press, asking what the hell the Pentagon was doing releasing Clinton documents to the press when the campaign staff had been denied months earlier.
4. Juxtapositions of President Bush attacking Clinton for anti War activity in Moscow in 1970 with a more casual Carville joking with the press about Clinton's student exchange program to Moscow--"How the hell am I supposed to know what he did there?"
5. Stephanopoulos coolly handling Sam Donaldson on national television by counter questioning about the Republican Attack Dogs.
6. War Room strategy sessions that shrewdly anticipate and plan for future Republican offensives.
From the documentary it is plain that the Clinton "comebacks" were never miraculous. He wasn't lucky. He had some really sharp people working the campaign in Carville and Stephanopoulos.
Not that all looks rosy for the campaign--the roller coaster ride is well recorded from the early days in New Hampshire to the post election celebration. At first Bill Clinton looks anything but Presidential, his girth showing in Arkansas Razorbacks t-shirt and red shorts while conducting telephone interviews from his Manchester campaign headquarters in the midst of minor chaos. Another sequence shows the whole staff get excited over a tape showing Bush-Quayle campaign materials being manufactured in Brazil and Carville on the phone to leak the information to CBS News, only to see utter dejection when the news organizations refuse to run the story. Even just before the convention, the campaign staff engages in silly discussions about whether to manufacture homemade signs to appeal to television (they do) and how they need bigger letters than the latest version of the Jerry Brown signs.
The War Room is anything but dry, boring politics. This is big time drama along the lines of a heavyweight championship bout, but with much higher stakes. Anyone who doubts the power of a campaign team will think so no longer after watching these very human pros. Like Kirk and Spock, Carville and Stephanopoulos guide the campaign through dangerous minefields and Republican plots like they've actually been here before. When Bush accuses Clinton of waffling, saying he has been "spotted in more places than Elvis Presley," Carville observes that Bush never once mentions the economy in his acceptance and will be "on this thing like stink on shit." Stephanopoulos carefully analyses every nuance, counters brilliantly, and practically jumps with excitement when he senses a Bush weakness.
For a political textbook on how important "spin" is to political campaigns, look no further than this documentary to see how each side deftly puts across its message after the Presidential debates. Especially telling is the montage showing Stephanopoulos perceiving Bush's defensiveness, his walk through the corridors to reach the press area, and his desperate attempts to hear what Bush's final words were so that he can spin the message more effectively.
If nothing else, the documentary serves well as a time capsule. The process remains the same, even as the characters themselves change, especially telling with our knowledge of the future with the three lead characters here--President Clinton and his tremendous popularity, accompanied by scandals; Stephanopoulos and his political disillusionment and move to television; Carville and his marriage to his political opposite and rival.
Fictional accounts like The Candidate and Nashville, and historical dramas like All the President's Men and Primary Colors have given tremendous insights into American politics over the years. But for the real deal, The War Room stands alone. The tears that Carville sheds when he addresses the staff, in anticipation of finally winning the big prize testify that these political pros sincerely believe that they have fought the good fight for a righteous cause. That validates the film as well as anything, regardless where you stand politically--the tagline "They Changed The Way Campaigns Are Won" has more credence due to the relative openness of this campaign. Backroom politics has now been exposed--a high stakes game, but no mystery. |
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