Review of Wag the Dog (1997) by Michael K — 31 Dec 2007
Surfing Michael Moore territory with a lightly humorous satire on the manipulation of the media and general public by the American government as a 'fix-it' man is drafted in to deflect attention away from a sex scandal, days before an election, to start a war or the impression of war.
What follows is a funny, over the top approach that does perhaps lack a bit of killer instinct but is still enjoyable and consistently raises questions about politics in the USA and the public's response to it.
There's so many areas that you could go with this idea and the film manages a lot whilst keeping it light-hearted and jovial, as opposed to the paranoia of something like The Parallax View. Interestingly the film was released less than a month before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke and even more interestingly missle strikes against Sudan and Afghanistan were announced moments before Monica Lewinsky was to give a press conference about her being required to appear before Congress.
This review of Wag the Dog (1997) was written by Michael K on 31 Dec 2007.
Wag the Dog has generally received positive reviews.
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