Review of Wag the Dog (1997) by Joe K — 01 Jun 2008
On the second viewing this films weaknesses are openly exposed. The first time around it was fair, the second time, quite a bore. The main problem is in the characterisation of the leading players. They are Dustin Hoffman as "Stanley Motss", Robert De Niro as "Conrad Brean" and Anne Heche as "Winifred Ames". Fair enough, so far.
In a kind of vague reference to the "Rainman" character, Dustin Hoffman takes neurosis to some reasonably and irritatingly high levels. I understood what they were going for here, but he just kind of took it to one place and left it there. Besides which, he wasn't greatly convincing; and his "spasm" at the end seemed to come out of nowhere...
"Conrad" is potentially one of De Niro's most interesting post-nineteen-seventies characters. However, he drifted to and from the original portrayal so badly that I was confused as to what he was going for. I sensed some muddy direction for him. However, he did save this picture from being as dull as it might of been. Typically, he is convincing and a pleasure to study.
And, Anne Heche as "Winifred Ames" was annoying-to-the-max. (I wondered after watching this is she ever has or does have a fan base. As easy as it might be to look up on site such as this, I still cannot be bothered to even check).
Like some very good films, the story element is very simple. However, like most terrible films too, the story is very simple, and the narrative is mostly delivered through a million overheard phone calls. It makes it's point fairly early on, which is appreciated, but it just keeps running with that for the 97 mins. And yes, I DO believe that a government would do certain things to preserve it's authority. Thanks for enlightening me, Barry Levinson.
This review of Wag the Dog (1997) was written by Joe K on 01 Jun 2008.
Wag the Dog has generally received positive reviews.
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