Wag the Dog: rated R, 1 hour and 40 minutes
 A group of spin-doctors plan to create a diversion to turn the Americans' attention away from a scandal aimed at the president just weeks before the election. Robert De Niro plays Conrad Brean, the intelligence of this group of con artists, who produces the illusion, along with the help of an assistant (Anne Heche), and a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman). Brean thinks of the ideas and Motss (Hoffman) puts them into action. Together they succeed in fooling America and rigging the elections.  This movie has no doubt a very clever plot, with many smart, comical points, but it also lacks the image that makes a movie what it is. The characters are exceedingly shallow, and in general, it seems that all the trouble gone through to fake a war can be made easier if instead the efforts were put into helping the president make a new campaign slogan, which is repeatedly made fun of throughout the film. Overall, the ideas are acceptable, yet the execution appears to have failed.  Though the movie seems full of humor and canny remarks, the actual message expressed in Wag The Dog is rather disturbing. This poses the question: If America can be deceived so easily at something as difficult to conduct as a war, how would America react to a small scam made up? The film proves how easily the news can be manipulated and controlled. In this movie there is no distinguishing borderline between fact and fiction. The idea that anything seen or heard on the news might be a hoax, the comical punch line of this movie, may not be so funny after all.
Wag the Dog, directed by Barry Levinson, also starring Woody Harrelson, is a `political satire', which becomes less than satisfying, B-.
Wag the Dog: rated R, 1 hour and 40 minutes
 A group of spin-doctors plan to create a diversion to turn the Americans' attention away from a scandal aimed at the president just weeks before the election. Robert De Niro plays Conrad Brean, the intelligence of this group of con artists, who produces the illusion, along with the help of an assistant (Anne Heche), and a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman). Brean thinks of the ideas and Motss (Hoffman) puts them into action. Together they succeed in fooling America and rigging the elections. This movie has no doubt a very clever plot, with many smart, comical points, but it also lacks the image that makes a movie what it is. The characters are exceedingly shallow, and in general, it seems that all the trouble gone through to fake a war can be made easier if instead the efforts were put into helping the president make a new campaign slogan, which is repeatedly made fun of throughout the film. Overall, the ideas are acceptable, yet the execution appears to have failed. Though the movie seems full of humor and canny remarks, the actual message expressed in Wag The Dog is rather disturbing. This poses the question: If America can be deceived so easily at something as difficult to conduct as a war, how would America react to a small scam made up? The film proves how easily the news can be manipulated and controlled. In this movie there is no distinguishing borderline between fact and fiction. The idea that anything seen or heard on the news might be a hoax, the comical punch line of this movie, may not be so funny after all. Wag the Dog, directed by Barry Levinson, also starring Woody Harrelson, is a `political satire', which becomes less than satisfying, B-.