The War Room

'The most expensive single act of masturbation in history' - James Carville on Ross Perot's 1992 campaign for the US presidency. If this documentary record of the Clinton team's own campaign doesn't quite warrant such abusive language, it nevertheless comes across as an indulgent piece of self-preening. The film follows campaign manager Carville (see him in The People vs. Larry FIynt) and George Stephanopolis, director of communications, from a pre-Primary February breakfast with Clinton to the night of the November election results. The two 'stars', Carville, a 'ragin' Cajun' with fiercely intelligent Simian features and a forthright approach to the press corps, and Stephanopolis, telegenic Harvard boy, twinkle-eyed and soft-spoken, make a great double-act, though Carville is the stand-out. But the focus is way too far over on the side of personalities. There's scant political revelation: it's less behind-the-scenes than the scenes from a different perspective.