On May 7, 2023, a Washington Post/ABC poll revealed that only 42% of likely voters favored Joe Biden’s re-election, while 49% favored Former President Trump. “That poll,” declared legendary Democratic political operative James Carville, “it knocked me right off my fucking horse.”

CARVILLE: Winning is Everything, Stupid! chronicles eighteen tumultuous months inside what many consider the most consequential election in U.S. history from the distinctive vantage point of one of the most influential, charismatic, and combative voices in the Democratic Party: James Carville. The film features intimate interviews and verité footage with famed Republican operative—and James’s wife of over 30 years—Mary Matalin. Democratic Party luminaries such as Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulos, Paul Begala, Donna Brazile and others help trace the story of Carville’s rise from the bayou to the Beltway, culminating in his masterminding of Bill Clinton’s stunning presidential upset in 1992. Carville’s biography is intercut with his present-day efforts to shape the Democratic Party landscape by taking on the ultra-progressive “woke” wing of the party (which he believes subscribes to an election- losing ideology) and to get Joe Biden to step aside—a high-stakes gambit that puts him at odds with the very establishment he helped build.

Interwoven throughout is the unlikely love story of Carville and Matalin—a union that defies political tribalism and offers a glimmer of hope in our highly polarized times. Their eccentric, endearing, and occasionally hilarious dynamic, captured in intimate moments and conversations, serves as a counterpoint to the gladiatorial nature of modern politics.

Carville was directed by Matt Tyrnauer, produced by Susan McCue, Ryan Rothmaier Graham High, Corey Reeser and Matt Tyrnauer, and features James Carville, Mary Matalin, Bill Clinton, Bill Maher, Al Hunt, Donna Brazile, George Stephanopoulos, Paul Begala, Mandy Grunwald, Rev. Al Sharpton, Mitch Landrieu, Sidney Blumenthal, Walter Isaacson and others. The Director of Photography was Axel Baumann, with music by Lorne Balfe.