Review of Wag the Dog (1997) by Aaron N — 22 Mar 2008

CIA Agent Mr. Young: There are two things I know to be true. There's no difference between good flan and bad flan, and there is no war.".

A very funny, smart political satire about spinning the truth. When the president is in trouble a week before election time, a spin doctor, played by Robert De Niro, is called in to fix things. His plan: produce a war on television to keep the American public's attention elsewhere. To do this they enlist a big Hollywood producer, played by Dustin Hoffman, to get all the necessary elements to produce a war.

Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman play very well off each other, and the rest of the cast, which includes Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Willie Nelson, and Woody Harrelson, is in very good form as well.

The script was written by David Mamet, and his fast and sharp dialog propels the movie forward even more. There are some very funny moments that have points of making one wonder how off the truth this can really be, even if the situations go more and more out there.

Director Barry Levinson once again shows how effective his balance of tone separating the satire from the more overtly humorous moments, as well as making this a well directed film in general.

Particularly effective are the moments involving the actual work put into giving the impression of a war and Hoffman's performance that earned him an Oscar nomination.

Conrad 'Connie' Brean: What's the thing people remember about the Gulf War? A bomb falling down a chimney. Let me tell you something: I was in the building where we filmed that with a 10-inch model made out of Legos.

Stanley Motss: Is that true?

Conrad 'Connie' Brean: Who the hell's to say?