Fresh
Hilary Henkin and David Mamet's script is gleefully hyperbolic without ever straying from its political target.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Wag the Dog
A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects.
1997 · 1h 37m · R
Comedy, Drama
Directed by
Barry Levinson
,
David Koechner
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Wag the Dog
Overview
During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.
Director and cast
- Barry Levinson Director
- David Koechner Director
- Dustin Hoffman as Stanley Motss
- Robert De Niro as Conrad Brean
- Anne Heche as Winifred Ames
- Woody Harrelson as Sergeant William Schumann
- Denis Leary as Fad King
- Willie Nelson as Johnny Dean
- Andrea Martin as Liz Butsky
- Kirsten Dunst as Tracy Lime
- William H. Macy as CIA Agent Charles Young
- David Koechner as Director
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
86%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Amusing as it is, Wag The Dog does what it purports to sat irize -- the bark is real but the teeth aren't.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Fresh
The pacing is crisp, the dialogue quippy and fast, the tone arch but energetic.
Godfrey Cheshire, Variety
Fresh
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.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Rotten
When the film makes the leap from plausibly outrageous to pure satire, it slips, and the logic goes with it.
Lucy Mohl, Film.com
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