White House Plumbers

White House Plumbers approaches the Watergate story through people whose confidence greatly exceeds their ability to conduct a discreet operation. Woody Harrelson plays E. Howard Hunt and Justin Theroux plays G. Gordon Liddy, making their partnership the centre of a historical farce.

The contrast between serious intentions and badly judged execution supplies much of the comedy. Private conversations and domestic scenes give the men room to demonstrate the habits they then bring into work that supposedly requires care and restraint.

This is a dramatised interpretation, with a comic emphasis rather than the comprehensiveness of a documentary. It is most appealing as a performance-led account of bungling and self-importance. Viewers who enjoy the institutional embarrassment of The Thick of It may recognise the attraction, although this uses a specific historical episode rather than an invented department.