Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

The War Room

Play trailer Poster for The War Room PG Released Sep 14, 1993 1h 34m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
96% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Given unprecedented access, documentary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker Chris Hegedus follow part of the 1992 Clinton campaign for president. During the New Hampshire primary, the campaign hits some stumbling blocks, chief among them the Gennifer Flowers scandal, but nevertheless manages to pull out a second-place finish. From there, strategists George Stephanopoulos and James Carville repair to national campaign headquarters in Little Rock to monitor the remaining duration of the campaign.

Where to Watch

The War Room

The War Room

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Eye-opening in its access to an array of colorful campaign operatives, The War Room is a valuable time capsule and a riveting study in the art of politicking.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (26) Critics Reviews
Alissa Wilkinson Vox The film offers an inside look at a campaign through the eyes of those who lived it with the intimacy that we've come to expect from our campaign documentaries. Aug 20, 2020 Full Review Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: A- Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle Rated: 4.5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Jordan M. Smith IONCINEMA.com Without an imposed narrative, the story of the campaign unfolds with suspense inducing antagonists, and a natural, highly rewarding arc. Nov 19, 2020 Full Review Alison Gillmor Winnipeg Free Press The War Room is about the day-to-day grunt work of politicking, in rooms filled with fluorescent lighting and bad coffee and ragged adrenaline energy. Nov 10, 2020 Full Review Rocco T. Thompson Screen Rant An eye-opening journey into the lost art of politicking, The War Room is a must-watch for anyone curious about the nuts and bolts of campaigning for office. Jun 22, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (139) audience reviews
david f Lots of 90s nostalgia here in this behind the scenes look at the Clinton campaign for the 1992 presidential election. One thing that jumped out at me was how many scenes there were of people reading newspapers. I guess newspapers still had a few years left of relevancy but it looked very foreign and odd. James Carville gave a great speech at the end when he acknowledged all the hard work the campaign staffers had put into the campaign, it was a fitting climax. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review s r Insightful, if you're into politics. It also makes you hate the political spin. Saw on HBO. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member In the modern world of reality TV and fly-on-the-wall documentaries this doesn't feel particularly revolutionary but I can only imagine what it must have been like to watch it back in 1993. And even if the novelty doesn't feel particularly strong today it still remains a fascinating bit of political history. And thank god James Carville shouts so much, I could rarely hear what poor Stephanopoulos was saying! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member This largely one-sided but refreshingly unsensationalized doc entertainingly shows how the political sausage is made. And James Carville is a national treasure, and he alone makes this worth watching. In reference to the Ross Perot presidential campaign celebration, he said: "It is the most expensive single act of masturbation in the world." Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Nowhere near as eye opening and revealing as I'd hoped but nonetheless a rather immersive and engaging documentary about the people who really run Presidential campaigns. The documentary feels at times that it just scrapes the surface and only ever so quickly actually goes over the issues at hand. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review ian t It's a bit of a mess but as an insight into the nuts and bolts of campaigning it interesting enough. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The War Room

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

More Like This

View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
Road Scholar 100% % Road Scholar Watchlist Incident at Oglala 100% 84% Incident at Oglala Watchlist The Endless Summer II 50% 93% The Endless Summer II Watchlist Fast, Cheap & Out of Control 91% 84% Fast, Cheap & Out of Control Watchlist Trekkies 86% 70% Trekkies Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Related Movie News

View All Related Movie News
Comedy, Music, and Politics Collide for Lea Michele in New Series The Mayor
View All The War Room photos

The War Room

The War Room (1993) The War Room (1993) The War Room (1993) The War Room (1993) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Given unprecedented access, documentary filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker Chris Hegedus follow part of the 1992 Clinton campaign for president. During the New Hampshire primary, the campaign hits some stumbling blocks, chief among them the Gennifer Flowers scandal, but nevertheless manages to pull out a second-place finish. From there, strategists George Stephanopoulos and James Carville repair to national campaign headquarters in Little Rock to monitor the remaining duration of the campaign.
Director
Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker
Producer
R.J. Cutler, Wendy Ettinger, Frazer Pennebaker
Distributor
October Films
Production Co
Mc*Ettinger Films, Pennebaker Associates
Rating
PG
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 14, 1993, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$67.2M
Runtime
1h 34m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Surround
Most Popular at Home Now