The Clinton Affair

The Clintons aren't interviewed, but enough friends, lawyers and confidants are to provide a glimpse of their view from inside the fishbowl. And even when it doesn't say so, The Clinton Affair effectively conveys that what transpired 20 years ago isn't mere history; rather, the ripples are still being very much felt today.

Beyond the emotional resonance of The Clinton Affair, director Blair Foster does an excellent job in structuring the history of and leading up to the impeachment proceedings that occurred 20 years ago while also emphasizing the emotional toll they took on everyone involved.

Director Blair Foster marshals a vast quantity of facts and of footage (from contemporaneous news reports to present-day interviews), but this story, too, might have been pruned back. Perhaps the element of the documentary that works best is the inclusion of Lewinsky and Clinton harassment accuser Paula Jones on-camera.

Interviews with journalists, Washington insiders and political wonks fill in the rest, but the middle episodes hone so far into Lewinsky's experience and Linda Tripp's machinations that the documentary starts to feel as riveting as reconciling an expense report.