--- title: "White House Plumbers: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/white-house-plumbers/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/white-house-plumbers" critics_score: 59 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # White House Plumbers (2023): what the critics said Critics' score 59 from 12 reviews: 5 positive, 4 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics agree on where the pleasure lies: Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux as Hunt and Liddy, whose odd-couple chemistry nearly every review praises even when little else lands. The warmer notices take the series as a Veep-style Watergate farce that romps along, with the period production, the wider ensemble and Lena Headey as the exasperated wife drawing approval. Several also credit it with dragging out the stranger true details that the famous break-in tends to obscure. The reservations cluster on tone. Many find the buffoonery wearing over five episodes and the late turn to seriousness abrupt, and more than one asks whether another Watergate retelling needed making at all. The spread is wide: The Telegraph and IndieWire are close to enthusiastic, while The Guardian finds a meandering farce with no clear identity and The Times thinks it loses its shape by the end. /Film suspects the material would have sat better in a single film. ## IndieWire — Ben Travers Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 2023. The HBO limited series succeeds as another account of the Nixon scandal thanks to its stellar cast, meticulous construction, and dark-comic spirit. Harrelson and Theroux stand out as fine stooges in this Watergate farce. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/white-house-plumbers-review-woody-harrelson-justin-theroux-1234832401/) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 May 2023. White House Plumbers is a rollicking Veep-style Watergate farce that revels in political incompetence and feels painfully familiar to modern politics. It has a heist-movie aura with broad performances highlighting bungling schemes and contemporary echoes. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/the-white-house-plumbers-sky-atlantic-hbo-review/) ## Evening Standard — Vicky Jessop Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 23 May 2023. The series is giddy fun that romps along with pitch-perfect chemistry between Harrelson and Theroux as the odd-couple bunglers, but it is also a cautionary tale about incompetence and the real political consequences of zealotry. It is television dynamite that does justice to the true story. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/white-house-plumbers-on-hbo-review-woody-harrelson-justin-theroux-b1077025.html) ## The i Paper — Neil Armstrong Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 30 May 2023. The critic praises the drily funny tone and real chemistry between Harrelson and Theroux as the incompetent Laurel and Hardy of political espionage, with their growing bond almost touching; Lena Headey stands out as the exasperated wife throwing their stupidity into relief. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/white-house-plumbers-sky-atlantic-review-woody-harrelson-justin-theroux-watergate-2373862) ## Variety — Alison Herman Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 2023. The series works better as a dual character study of the bromance between Hunt and Liddy than as a lecture on history; it delivers tongue-in-cheek reenactments but struggles to justify another Watergate retelling overall. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2023/tv/tv-reviews/white-house-plumbers-review-justin-theroux-woody-harrelson-1235599825/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Daniel Fienberg Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 28 April 2023. The manic hijinks-heavy comedy struggles with tonal traction and insufficient management of chaos across five episodes, exhausting viewers with buffoonery before an abrupt shift to seriousness; strong ensemble performances are undercut by the format. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/white-house-plumbers-review-woody-harrelson-justin-theroux-hbo-1235405745/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 30 May 2023. The series is a meandering political farce with a star-packed cast that rapidly loses interest unless one is an aficionado of 1970s US political scandals. It lacks a clear identity, with off chemistry and parts that do not fit together despite slick production values. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/30/white-house-plumbers-review-youll-give-up-on-woody-harrelsons-watergate-drama-after-one-episode) ## The Times — James Jackson Rating ★★☆☆☆. 30 May 2023. Fifty years on, the Watergate scandal is played for laughs as bungling farce rather than outrage, though it feels a bit all over the place by the end. Justin Theroux channels a malevolent Ron Burgundy as Liddy in this comedy that turns serious. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/white-house-plumbers-review-fifty-years-on-watergate-is-played-for-laughs-z0x8cz09z) ## Consequence Rating B-. 27 April 2023. The tonally messy miniseries explores surprising true-life facts and fictions around the Watergate conspirators, treating the bumbling masterminds as comedic figures with some human dimensions emerging later. Praises the shocking real events highlighted and the impressive cast while noting the broad, cartoonish performances. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2023/04/white-house-plumbers-review-hbo-watergate/) ## Collider — Taylor Gates Rating C+. 27 April 2023. The miniseries has the makings of a great show but settles for being merely adequate; it's not sharp enough as satire or resonant enough as drama, with disjointed pacing and flattened characters. Praises the stylish aesthetic and the leads' chemistry while criticizing the writing, underutilized supporting cast, and lack of substance. [Read the review](https://collider.com/white-house-plumbers-review/) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 27 April 2023. The critic finds it a sporadically funny series about not-very-bright guys letting things get out of hand, but notes the comedic approach doesn't fully gel with the material and it might have worked better as a movie. Praises the leads' chemistry while criticizing the broad performances and lack of depth or momentum. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1267579/white-house-plumbers-woody-harrelson-justin-theroux-watergate/) ## Paste — Whitney Friedlander Rating 7.9. 1 May 2023. The series is a cartoonish rehash that wants viewers to know the plumbers did many other stupid things besides the famous break-in; the ham-handed acting distracts, but it ties in intriguing real details. Praises the focus on compelling peripheral figures like the wives while criticizing the central portrayals as buffoonish. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/hbo/white-house-plumbers-review) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/tv/white-house-plumbers.md