Review: Wag the Dog By Luke Buckmaster
After viewing Dustin Hoffman and Robert DiNiro tell a story that seems not to be far from the truth, you can't help but suspect that the public has not been told all there is to know about the Whitehouse's sexual allegations. Just after Bill Clinton had been accused of not controlling the insides of his pants, a nuclear threat in Iraq emanated. The prospect of war had begun, but thankfully nothing initiated from it.
An eerily similar situation is evident in Wag the Dog, a refreshingly amusing politically incorrect satire. In essence the film is based around a "Spin Doctor" and Hollywood producer attempting to cover up the Prezy's keen "interest" in a young Girl Scout (2 weeks before the election). In execution, Wag the Dog takes a bold look at how the media is "created;" even if that means degrading itself along the way. Not that the film has much to degrade - acting is sharp and admirable, the no nonsense script is a clever parody of political affairs and it's characters are able to express their engaging opinions through the use of a slick dialogue.
After the Presidents raunchy affairs, Conrad Brean (Robert DiNiro) and Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) work out a way to remove him from the media spotlight before the population can even consider voting differently on re-election. Their plan is simple: cook up a war. What, after all, do most people actually witness in regard to wars? Perhaps photos in magazines, articles in newspapers and video clips on the TV. If this weren't about politics, I'd swear it was about Hollywood.
Realizing this, Conrad and Winifred hire hot shot movie producer (Dustin Hoffman) to create a real life movie. Realistic acting, special effects and surroundings are now more important than ever.
Surely, Wag the Dog has everything going for it. It's funny. It's engaging. It's studious. It's all of those things once or twice.
Because Wag is an eminently repetitive film, for the more derogatory viewer funny can quickly become cruddy, engaging to enraging and studious to fastidious. But for those who crave a solid high quality film, this is probably the best opportunity to view a profuse piece of consistent art that they'll get for a long time. In short: if you like the opening scenes, you'll like the ending scenes. And if you like what's in between, you're set for a great time.
Director Barry Levinson (Disclosure, Donnie Brasco) successfully wags the film into following his precise cynicism of the globe's media. Hoffman, DeNiro and Heche absorb the screen so well that we can't help but think they were meant to act together from the start. Not only do they sound like presidential scammers; they also look like presidential scammers - and follow out to the exact degree what is required for almost perfect performances. Wag the Dog's acting is far better than anything else it has to offer; and although the scripting is intelligently inventive it does get a tad boring when the same method is repeated from scene to scene.
Surely, Wag is a masterpiece that missed the mark.
3 = stars Wag ain't a drag, let the dog show its gob
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