Review of Wag the Dog (1997) by Ben L — 04 Feb 2016

I'm actually surprised I never saw this film considering the amazing cast and the humorous concept. For those who are unfamiliar with Wag the Dog, it is about a political spin doctor who is brought in to help the president avoid a scandal.

The particular event of impropriety is so bad that they decide a big distraction is necessary, so they call in a movie producer to help them stage news footage that will simulate a war. Now this movie is from the days when DeNiro was still trying instead of simply cashing paychecks, so he's really doing good work with his characterization.

There are also a large number of other big names you'd recognize who add to the humor. But the big highlight of this film is Dustin Hoffman as an over-the-top film producer. I love how he talks about every problem as if it was insignificant and then compares it to issues he had when filming movies in the past.

I also thought it was fun that, while everything that is happening in the movie revolves around the president, they never show his face on screen. I really do think the concept of Wag the Dog is humorous, yet it rang a little too true and I wasn't laughing like I expected.

I'm not a big fan of politics anyways, and I'm pretty much fed up with this election year already, so watching a film about manipulating voters wasn't enjoyable for me. Still, I see the genius in the concept and I can totally see why some people would find this to be a ton of fun.