This movie is a riot. It's not a laugh-a-minute type of movie, rather the overall scenario is just too amusing. Not since "Capricorn One" (1977) had I seen a movie deal so deftly with government spin doctoring.
"Wag the Dog" starts off in an underground, secret war room. The president has just committed political suicide eleven days before election day. There's a team of anonymous staffers in the war room brainstorming on what to do to stave off an imminent loss, that's when staffer Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) decides to call on political fixer Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro). From that point on it is non-stop firing of off-the-wall ideas to get the attention off of the president's sexual deviancy by creating a bigger issue.
It was wonderfully brilliant--the deceit and misdirection created--even if it is loathsome in real life. "Wag the Dog" was fast, funny, and clever. It was non-stop action, just not of the bullets, chases, and explosions kind. It was all so relevant I couldn't get enough. The rapid fire from Fad King (Dennis Leary), movie producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman), and Conrad Brean was like poetry. It was fascinating how every negative situation was just seen as another challenge to which Motss would reply, "This is nothing," and then cleverly come up with a solution. If I could have a team like that for my life... watch out world!
"Wag the Dog" starts off in an underground, secret war room. The president has just committed political suicide eleven days before election day. There's a team of anonymous staffers in the war room brainstorming on what to do to stave off an imminent loss, that's when staffer Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) decides to call on political fixer Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro). From that point on it is non-stop firing of off-the-wall ideas to get the attention off of the president's sexual deviancy by creating a bigger issue.
It was wonderfully brilliant--the deceit and misdirection created--even if it is loathsome in real life. "Wag the Dog" was fast, funny, and clever. It was non-stop action, just not of the bullets, chases, and explosions kind. It was all so relevant I couldn't get enough. The rapid fire from Fad King (Dennis Leary), movie producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman), and Conrad Brean was like poetry. It was fascinating how every negative situation was just seen as another challenge to which Motss would reply, "This is nothing," and then cleverly come up with a solution. If I could have a team like that for my life... watch out world!