Wag the Dog (1997)
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85% of critics liked it
(72 reviews) -
72% of users liked it
(43,208 ratings)
In a 29-day shoot, Barry Levinson filmed this $15 million political and media satire, adapted by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet from Larry Beinhart's novel, American Hero. Two weeks prior to re-election, the President (Michael Belson) is accused of cornering an underage girl in the Oval Office.… More In a 29-day shoot, Barry Levinson filmed this $15 million political and media satire, adapted by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet from Larry Beinhart's novel, American Hero. Two weeks prior to re-election, the President (Michael Belson) is accused of cornering an underage girl in the Oval Office. To keep the media from learning of this, Presidential adviser Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) brings in political consultant and spin doctor Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro), a specialist in such salvage operations. Brean suggests fabricating denials of non-existent emergencies -- such as denials about the B-3 bomber. The denial, of course, is true, since no B-3 bomber exists. Brean visits the mansion of Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) and gives him the assignment to create a patriotic campaign centered around a war in Albania. Motss assembles a creative team -- Liz Butsky (Andrea Martin), the trend-setter Fad King (Denis Leary), and songwriter Johnny Green (Willie Nelson). Treated like an ad campaign, the songs and symbols are transmitted directly from a Hollywood soundstage to CNN. The star of their campaign is a "rescued" pilot -- in reality, a psychotic military prisoner (Woody Harrelson), who's a ticking time bomb. The flag-waving song, "The American Dream" was written for the film by Tom Bahler (who co-wrote "We Are the World"). Beinhart's original novel involved a real President (Bush), a real war (the Gulf War), and the premise that George Bush and Saddam Hussein staged it. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Directed By
- Barry Levinson
- Written By
- Hilary Henkin, David Mamet, Chloe King
- Genres
- Comedy
- In Theaters
- Dec 25, 1997 Wide
- Studio
- New Line Cinema
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Hilary Henkin and David Mamet's script is gleefully hyperbolic without ever straying from its political target.
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, Time Out
Lazily assembled by director Levinson, it slides into a series of soft, extended skits on engineering a media war, not helped by several badly handled leaps in the story.
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Amusing as it is, Wag The Dog does what it purports to sat irize -- the bark is real but the teeth aren't.
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Godfrey Cheshire, Variety
The pacing is crisp, the dialogue quippy and fast, the tone arch but energetic.
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Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
A wicked smart satire on the interlocking worlds of politics and show business, Wag the Dog confirms every awful thought you've ever had about media manipulation and the gullibility of the American public.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Dustin Hoffman
as Stanley Motss
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Robert De Niro
as Conrad Brean
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Anne Heche
as Winifred Ames
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Woody Harrelson
as Sgt. William Schumann
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Denis Leary
as Fad King
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Willie Nelson
as Johnny Green
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Andrea Martin
as Liz Butsky
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Michael Belson
as President
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Suzanne Cryer
as Amy Cain
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John Michael Higgins
as John Levy
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Suzie Plakson
as Grace
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Kirsten Dunst
as Tracy Lime
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William H. Macy
as Mr. Young
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Roebuck "Pops" Staples
as Himself
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Merle Haggard
as Himself
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Jason Cottle
as "A D" (Assistant Director)



