Wag the Dog (1997)
Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Barry Levinson
Written by: Hilary Henkin and David Mamet, from the novel AMERICAN HERO by Larry Beinhart
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson
Ingredients: Washington and Hollywood spin doctors making fake news to fool the American public
Synopsis: Does a dog wag its tail, or does the tail ever wag the dog? Do events drive publicity or do publicity specialists drive events? In WAG THE DOG, it's definitely PR wonks who drive events. This fun spoof is a behind-the-scenes look at the mechanics of manipulating the American public - - how over-the-top moguls in Washington and Hollywood use the media to control public opinion. Eleven days before the Presidential election, Presidential aide Winifred (Anne Heche), political spin doctor Conrad (Robert De Niro), and Hollywood producer Stanley (Dustin Hoffman) are charged with a monumental publicity project. Although the President has a comfortable 17% lead in the polls against his opponent, a breaking new sex scandal concerning the President and a teenage girl threatens to derail his upcoming reelection. Winifred, Conrad, and Stanley are hired to distract the public's opinion from the sex scandal. To rally the American people around the President as well as temporarily take all the attention away from the sex scandal story, the three spin doctors produce a fake war between America and Albania in their little movie studio - - complete with heroes, victims, music, press conferences and disaster footage. Just as Ronald Reagan's real life inexplicable flash invasion of Grenada diverted public attention from what certainly would have been public outcry over the murder of over 200 marines in Beirut, the three spin doctors figure they can divert attention away from the President's dubious morality by convincing America it is at war - - just long enough to ensure the President's reelection. Will the eleven-day ruse succeed?
Opinion: I figure the average Hollywood movie these days costs 60 million dollars to make and takes 90 days to film. Frankly, WAG THE DOG is a much better movie, and it only cost 15 million to make and thirty days to film. WAG THE DOG is a fine screenplay with superb acting and a resounding message as well. The running gag is that the publicity is all fake, and the public is eating it up.
Although in theory the American government has three branches (executive, legislative, judicial), in practice it has four. The media is the fourth branch of government, and we all know in our hearts that American public opinion is regularly manipulated by media-savvy spin doctors in Hollywood and Washington, espousing various angles for economic or political gain.
A racial minority allegedly kills a white. Which angle sells more papers? In the O.J. Simpson case the press played the race card. In Cunanan/Versace (Cunanan was Filipino) the press played the gay card. Impartial news, or just angles for making more money? A Middle Eastern minority male associated with arms dealing and his white girlfriend die in a drunk driving accident, not wearing seat belts. Which angle sells the most papers? The drunk driving angle, or "Princess' Fairy Tale Life Gets Cut Short." The answer, of course, is the fairy tale sells more - - especially if it comes with commercial tie-ins such as tribute CDs made from re-hashed songs to Marilyn Monroe, with advertisements for the next album on the back, and perhaps film rights later on. Let's ask ourselves. Are we being hooked and played for dollars by Hollywood and Washington spin doctors?
Reviewed by David Sunga January 9, 1998
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