by Curtis Edmonds -- blueduck@hsbr.org
The premise of Wag the Dog is so simple that it's adequately explained by the commercials. With 11 days to go until the election, the President (who we never see) calls in political dirty-tricks artist Robert DeNiro to distract attention from a burgeoning sex scandal. DeNiro enlists Hollywood producer Dustin Hoffman to produce a "pageant", a phony war against Albania, fought on the blue screens of Hollywood and the recording studios of Nashville, with Woody Harrelson as the reluctant, psychotic hero. And if there wasn't anything more to the movie than this, it would be a second-rate heist comedy at best, enlivened by great actors -- like Sneakers Goes to Washington. (A heist comedy? Yup. DeNiro and Hoffman are "stealing" the election, so to speak, and the movie is more about how they do it -- and the fun they have doing it -- than anything else.)
Wag the Dog succeeds because it's based one great truth: The American people are stupid. OK, maybe it's not "love thy neighbor as thyself" or even "two plus two makes four", but a truth nonetheless. (Any average person who thinks that they're really smart about the two things this movie satirizes -- moviemaking and the political process -- is invited, nay, challenged, to spend a week either watching a movie actually being made or 48 hours straight watching C-SPAN when the House is in session.) And because we're so utterly, predictably stupid, Hollywood knows that a certain percentage of us will go see Hard Rain or Magoo, Washington knows that we won't notice a few million dollars spent here and there on porno art grants and cigar subsidies -- and DeNiro's character knows that American geography skills are so weak that we won't be able to locate Albania on the map.
The beauty of Wag the Dog is that it isn't a light, meaningless comedy about politics (like Speechless, the Michael Keaton - Geena Davis picture) or from the level of light-hearted politcal satire to near-greatness. Nor is it a hard-edged cynical look at the manner in which a morally-deprived, ethically challenged baby-boomer connives his sleazy way into the White House (like Primary Colors -- and yes, I am a little disappointed in the way the last two elections turned out, thanks for asking). Instead, David Mamet's script strikes that delicate balance between comedy and cynicism needed for satire. It does this by keeping us in a fantasy world where most of the schemers' schemes come off beautifully, and fail only in entertaining and humorous fashion.
DeNiro is playing a variation on his Al Capone character from The Untouchables, without any of the violent rages. It's all: "What do I love? What is it that brings me joy? Baseball," minus the savage bloody beating with the bat. He threatens a lot of people, mind you, but he's doing it in a very nice, polite way. It's a very mellow, restrained performance, which fits in with the air of gamesmanship in the script. Hoffman, on the other hand, is giddy, exuberant and joyous. This kind of thing is what his character lives for, and he's so excited that he can't even shut up. Even on the edge of disaster, he's bright-eyed (behind oddly tinted sunglasses) and positive. Insiders note that he's basing his character on some powerful-but-anonymous producer -- which may or may not be true, but Hoffman still exudes the kind of lets-put-on-a-show electricity that you figure a producer needs to have.
The best part and the most frustrating part of Wag the Dog is in the supporting cast. The characters are so well drawn and so well acted that we want to see more of them, listen to them talk in that wised-up Mamet dialogue, get to know them better -- which we don't. Anne Heche, is dead-bang-on in her portrayal of a political press aide -- cool and composed on the outside, panicked and frenzied on the outside. Denis Leary (one of my favorite actors -- see The Ref) is the "Fad King", who handles the profitable "back-end" -- T-shirt tie ins and shoe contracts and other creative, innovative ways to separate a fool from his money. They could make a whole movie, just about the Fad King, and I'd go see it. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard handle the musical end of things fabulously, from the upbeat gospel chorus theme song, to the weepy country waltz, to the hilarious "Ballad of the Green Berets" parody. Woody Harrelson has a brief, but memorable part as the overmedicated "hero" of the Albanian conflict. Craig T. Nelson, as the opposition candidate, and the ever-reliable William H. Macy, as a wacky CIA agent, are given surprisingly short shrift. (One of my small gripes is that we never see what the spin doctors on the other side are doing.)
Wag the Dog is a funny movie about serious problems: the trivialization of American politics, the role of the press in dumbing down the issues, the impact of Hollywood in creating campaign commercials, the reduction of all things political to soundbites and sidebars -- the list goes on. We can solve most of these problems by taking a greater role in our national life and educating ourselves as voters and citizens. Wag the Dog reminds us of what can happen if we don't.
Rating: A
-- Curtis "BlueDuck" Edmonds blueduck@hsbr.org
The Hollywood Stock Brokerage and Resource http://www.hsbr.org/brokers/blueduck/
"There's one thing that is forbidden on journeys by sled, and that is whimpering. Whining is a virus, a lethal, infectious epidemic disease. I refuse to listen to it."
-- Peter Hoeg, "Smilla's Sense of Snow"
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