During the 1992 presidential campaign, legendary documentarian D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back) and Chris Hegadus, his wife and frequent collaborator, were lucky enough to have their cameras at the right place at the right time. From the New Hampshire primary to Election Day, they followed the bid of a charismatic dark horse from Arkansas who was considered a long shot to win the Democratic nomination, let alone unseat an incumbent president. More than just a riveting and deeply funny account of Bill Clinton's improbable triumph, 1993's The War Room exposed the inner workings of a brilliant campaign that forever altered the political landscape. Startup.com, which Pennebaker produced and Hegadus co-directed with first-timer Jehane Noujaim, confirms their uncanny instinct for scenting a major story as it's breaking. Charting the rise and fall of govWorks.com, an ambitious Internet start-up founded by best friends Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman, it's an arresting tale of conflicted loyalties and Machiavellian gambits, unfolding amid the dreadful uncertainties of the new economy. But as its generic title implies, Startup.com is really the story of the late-'90s dot-com explosion, an indispensable case study in the companies that sprung up overnight, inflated to the bursting point with millions in venture capital and no clear path to cash. Intended by its founders to advance democracy while turning a profit—a "win-win" idea plagued by contradiction—govWorks connects users with local government, allowing them to pay parking tickets, renew driver's licenses, and participate in town meetings online. As chairman and CEO, Tuzman leads with as much dogged charisma (and screen presence) as James Carville in The War Room, preaching with an entrepreneurial spirit that's hard to distinguish from chest-thumping bravado. In better days, his Type-A business savvy is perfectly complimented by Herman's sensitivity and idealism; soon enough, the pair have coaxed $60 million from anxious investors and filled their New York office with more than 200 employees. But when technical setbacks and flat revenues beset the road to IPO billions, their friendship (and the company's future) quickly begins to unravel. Startup.com owes its extraordinary behind-the-scenes access to Noujaim, who was Tuzman's roommate at the time and had the good sense to have her camera ready the moment he abandoned his post at Goldman Sachs. Whittling about 400 hours of digital-video footage into a candid, funny, breathlessly suspenseful narrative, she and Hegadus seize on the enormous tension between the partners' responsibilities to the business and each other. A timely, essential document of the Internet boom, Startup.com looks beyond the vast acreage of dead links and crumbling tech stocks and puts a human face on its pioneering vision and colossal hubris.