"White House Plumbers" - a series in which Woody Harrelson accidentally causes the biggest political scandal in US history
Miscellaneous / / May 02, 2023
It's a great comedy based on true events.
On May 1, HBO premiered the first episode of the White House Plumbers miniseries.
The director of the project is David Mandel, who directed the film Eurotour and the TV series Veep. The script was written by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, who also worked on Veep. Starring Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux.
In the story, former CIA agent Howard Hunt and former FBI officer Gordon Liddy are recruited to work for the White House. Their task is to find out who (and why) is leaking classified data to the press. Gradually, the operatives turn into employees of the campaign headquarters of the incumbent President Richard Nixon. They are assigned to follow the candidate from Democratic Party.
Just makes me laugh
The White House Plumbers is a great and varied comedy with a caustic political satire that is sure to appeal to fans of Adam McKay.
From the very beginning, it becomes clear that the world of the main characters belongs to psychopaths. The White House, intelligence agencies, politicians - everyone just went crazy, but did not notice it.
Gets the era. Heroes only know what is psychotherapist, and also shine in strange costumes, wearing ridiculous wigs. At the same time, the concentration on the symbols of the era is at a minimum - this is not an obsessive reproduction of external signs, but only an element of decor.
Not very fresh, but a satire on the world of agents and spies also looks funny. After reading a book about James Bond, a failed agent cannot just do his job - he really wants to add cinematic character to his lines and actions.
Emphasis on heroes adds life story
The scriptwriters did not focus on political intrigues, but on heroes. The choice works by adding humanity to historical events. In the end, even the most complex and secret tasks are performed by people. Both Harrelson's Hunt and Theroux's Liddy turned out to be as bright as possible.
Hunt - former agentwho failed the operation in Cuba. Nevertheless, he does not consider himself a bad specialist, preferring to blame John F. Kennedy for everything. After retiring, Hunt began writing books that no one was going to read. He also manages to sing and play musical instruments. He sees himself as more of a James Bond, capable of doing a lot of things at once, than a regular agent. However, it is unlikely that his sense of self correlates with reality - this is a loser who has got too much authority.
No worse than the second main character. Liddy has her own identity issues. He chose his wife based on her "Celtic-Teutonic ancestry", and in the evenings he listens to Nazi marches and speeches Hitler. Then he explains that the record, published in the Third Reich, simply inspires him, and his convictions are by no means radical. True, his statements imply something else.
When two losers who imagine themselves to be incomprehensible get the opportunity to work for the White House, they just blow their minds. They don't know how much money they can ask for an operation, so they are shocked when they get a million dollars. It seems to them that now they can listen to at least the whole of America.
Idea executed brilliantly
"The White House Plumbers" is reminiscent of "Ocean's Eleven" in spirit - the same high pace of narration with the desire to cram as many jokes as possible into each scene. The simple idea works. Largely due to the fact that the series refuses unnecessary elements. A minimum of music, simple camera work, no unnecessary drama - everything revolves around two funny characters. In this situation, cast is especially important. Luckily, he's doing great.
Woody Harrelson is a brilliant comedian, especially if his talent isn't wasted (like last year's "The man from Toronto»). It is not surprising that his character turned out to be bright and funny even in scenes with unfunny jokes.
The same goes for Justin Theroux. He's had little luck with projects in recent years, but a role in The White House Plumbers should help restart his career.
Even minor characters are played by excellent actors - Lena Headey, Domhnall Gleason, Kiernan Shipka.
Biography highlights the absurd
The White House Plumbers is a series based on a true story. During one of the operations, Hunt and Liddy were caught while trying to install a wiretap at the headquarters of the Democratic Party. Their failure led to the resignation of Richard Nixon.
American journalists wrote that democracy was saved only by the sluggishness of those who tried to destroy it. The series follows the same logic, and therefore brings Liddy and Hunt's unprofessionalism to the point of absurdity.
The characters seem too colorful for a series based on real events. However, the prototypes are exactly the same. For example, Liddy used the FBI database to check the background of his future wife, and also received a reprimand for shooting at the ceiling of the courtroom.
Hunt's biography is even more interesting. Ten years of operations in different countries, suspicions of a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy, spreading disinformation through the media... This is a complex and ambiguous person who has been called and a genius and a liar.
"White House Plumbers" strikes a perfect balance between political satire and downright comedy. The series does not require immersion in the American context, because the writers constantly explain the events on the screen. The only task that the show sets for itself is to make the viewer laugh. And she handles it brilliantly.
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