Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 2, 1994                   TAG: 9404050014
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By Katherine Reed staff writer
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`WAR ROOM' IS POLITICAL PASSION

You don't even have to like George Stephanopoulos and James Carville, the real stars of DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus' Oscar-nominated documentary on the Clinton campaign.

Perhaps the only requirement for admiring this film is an appreciation of virtuosity, because one thing is entirely clear in the end: In the controlled chaos of the Little Rock, Ark., campaign headquarters, Carville and Stephanopoulos - guided by their unwavering belief in the candidate - had a homing instinct for victory.

Pennebaker and Hegedus let Carville be heard before he is seen. The setting is a campaign headquarters meeting in New Hampshire shortly before the primary, and he is speaking in his distinctive Louisiana drawl to a group of campaign workers, who are listening intently.

There seems to be no other way to listen to James Carville, and his face is part of the reason. His high cheekbones and prominent brow create a nearly impenetrable hiding place for his eyes, but he is so intense and impassioned that one is tempted to look there for an answer to the question: Is this guy for real?

The answer is yes, and same goes for Stephanopoulos. But when Carville was frustrated, fuming at the media, annoyed with naysayers, Stephanopoulos was calm and careful - a perfect complement to the "The Ragin' Cajun." At intense moments, George's nostrils will flare - but that is all.

The camera chases the pair down hallways and into rooms cluttered with campaign workers and empty coffee cups as they produce with dazzling speed the spin that kept Gennifer Flowers from sinking Clinton and the idea-centered strategy that kept the campaign on track.

Along the way, Pennebaker and Hegedus give us glimpses of an election that the network news doesn't offer: The woman signing for the hearing-impaired the lyrics to "Domino" at a campaign party; Clinton - with a glint of competition in his eye - watching Al Gore give a truly rousing speech in Arkansas; the hushed voices of campaign workers as they relate to Carville and Stephanopoulos just how well Clinton is doing on Election Day. They seem afraid to speak above a whisper, as if to do so would somehow jinx it.

The biggest revelation of all is what the filmmakers let us see of real, political passion. Yes, these people want to win and they rarely falter in their quest to make it happen. But it is their absolute faith that is so startling - and moving.

Carville and Stephanopoulos are spin doctors of the highest rank; but, as Carville tearfully tells an emotionally strung-out group of campaign workers on election eve, other than love, "the most sacred thing [one] can give is [one's] labor."

That belief pushed Bill Clinton into the consciousness of the American electorate, turned setback into comeback and made his ideas (often theirs) sound like ancient wisdom.

The War Room *** 1/2

An October Films release playing at the Grandin Theater. 93 minutes. Not rated.