Wag the Dog

We were going to try and post this review on or around Inauguration Day but that plan went up in smoke due to our recent 50^th review and all of the hullabaloo surrounding it. Neither of us wanted this film to be the big 5-0.

GREEN’S AS LONG AS YOU GET ME BACK FOR THE BEANS REVIEW:

Q: Why does a dog wag it’s tail?
A: Because a dog is smarter than its tail. If the tail were smarter, the tail would Wag the Dog.

Eleven days before the election the President is accused of molesting a Firefly girl in the office behind the Oval Office. Conrad Brean (DeNiro) has been called in to divert the attention of the American people until after the election. He hires Stanley Motss (Hoffman), a Hollywood producer, to flesh out the distraction to make it “real.” From the President getting ill while in China, to a conflict/war with Albania, to a stranded “war hero” left behind enemy lines and his rescue, the lies keep getting deeper. The problem is that the brilliant Motss can never take credit for this production. Ever.

“Wag the Dog” is a film that makes you wonder how much of what you see on the television news is really true. Where is the line between truth and fiction? And more importantly how often is this sacred line crossed?

The cast is excellent, headlined by Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Ann Heche and Denis Leary. Woody Harrelson is good as the deranged prisoner and “war hero." The script is decent, and for the most part, director Barry Levinson keeps the story moving along at a crisp pace with a tidy run time of 97 minutes.

This is a decent movie: not utterly fantastic but well worth the rental.

*** out of *****

SCRIBE'S TRIBUTE TO OVER-REACHING FILM PRODUCER'S REVIEW:

“Wag the Dog“ is one of those films too many of the wrong type of people recommend. Surely you know the type or are the type, in which case you don’t know because you’re too full of yourself to pause for self-examination.

I’ve always been a fan of Barry Levinson’s films and DeNiro and Hoffman are two of our greatest actors, but the buzz from the shallow set prevented me from seeing this film. I regret that now. This is an extremely well-acted, written and directed film.

Focusing on the president’s sex scandal, ironically written and filmed before the Clinton/Lewinski thing, Wag is a good example of just how low an administration is willing to stoop in order to ensure its continued survival over the country’s.

Sensing impending disaster for the president, his top aid (DeNiro) hits upon a grande scheme to enlist the aid of a famous Hollywood producer for a little spin doctoring. Hoffman is brilliant as the composite of every self-absorbed, bitter producer desperately seeking recognition for all his hard work.

What really makes this film work is the fact that while it starts off as a talky film, it realizes we need a decent third act to bring it all home. But it's the final moments of the film, when Hoffman's character has a breakdown and refuses to gracefully vanish into anonymity, that the true nature of the government is seen.

**** out of *****