Rating: 
Summary: Very overrated
Review: There have been great political satires in the past. This, unfortunately, isn't one of them. And it's not that I am politically biased or didn't laugh at any point in this movie...but it just isn't believable. At all.The idea is good enough. "Wag the dog" is a concept that has been done before by presidents and dictators alike. But here's the difference: in real life, when a ruler declares war or attacks another country to get the people's mind off some thing, they actually DO it. In this movie, two guys make the whole thing up. And we're supposed to believe, with this informationally charged world today, that these guys wouldn't have been laughed at in the first twenty minutes of this. Apparently the president controls every news service in the world (*coughcough*) and is able to silence any dissent that we weren't at war with Albania. The scene between Rob, Dustin, and the CIA wasn't really believable - in fact William H. Macy's character pretty much tells you all the plotholes of the film you're watching. If one popular American news channel had tried to say there was a war between the strongest nation in the world and a former Communist country in Europe, you'd have the other news stations there, you'd have BBC reporters there, you'd have responses from the UN and NATO...but apparently the writers thought there were only two or three nations in this whole world. The filmmaking itself is bad as well. The director tries to be artistic in an obnoxious manner: random close-ups, odd intercut scenes, and handy-cams. The manhunt scene in the end was ridiculous too, and it seemed like the writers forgot what they were writing about for twenty minutes. Basically, this was a movie that had a lot of potential and didn't follow it up. Maybe if the president had actually declared war and Dustin Hoffman's character had simply blown it out of proportions (like real news services do) then it may have been more believable. But...no. I'm sorry. This was a disappointment. Don't even bother with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Political satire...
Review: ...at its pinnacle. It is sooo funny, and in many ways, so true as well. The performers seem to enjoy themselves immensely, and the soundtrack is also brilliant, lending the perfect touch to a very clever script. If you have been bit by the political bug, and still managed to keep your sense of humor, you will likely enjoy this movie quite a bit.
Rating: 
Summary: "Mr. Fix It"
Review: This review refers to the New Line Platinum Series DVD "Wag The Dog".... The Preisdent of the United States has just been acussed by a "Firefly Girl" of improper advances to her, right in the Oval Office, no less. The story is about to break, and all hell will break loose. The President has 11 days until election day to gain the Public's favor in order to gain re-election. What to do?It's time to call in the big guns.Enter "Mr. Fix-it". He will put a spin on the situtation that will take care of everything.Sound familiar? Art imitating life? Or could it be the other way around, as Hollywood meets Washington for a poltical satire, that may not be so far off base. Robert DeNiro heads an all star cast as Conrad Brean, the most sought after spin-doctor in D.C. He always"working on it", as he heads the public off the bad publicity and onto the President's campaign trail.He hires a big time Hollywood Producer(Dustin Hoffman) to "Produce" a war. Who will we go to war with? How bout Albania? Albania????,you ask. Why Albania? Well.. why
not? And this is not to be some little Independant production. This will be big time. Like the big Hollywood studios, they pull out all the stops. Complete with a theme song, logos, a hero and some great publicity. If things seem to be going wrong, i.e., the opposition and the C.I.A. are on to them, don't worry cause Connie "Is working on that". The film is great fun and is loaded with talent.A great screenplay as expected from David Mamet and Hilary Henkin.At the helm is the wonderful Barry Levinson, and also lending their charms are Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Woody Harrelson, Willie Nelson,William H Macy, Craig T. Nelson and Kirsten Dunst. All this fun is presented on a terrific DVD. The picture(widescreen or fullscreen) and colors qualities are excellent. The sound in Dolby Dig 5.1(English or French) very good. Tons of extras. Commentary, featurettes, an essay, and filmographies. Enjoy and don't sweat the politics..cause.."Connie's working on
it.."...Laurie
Rating: 
Summary: LIGHTEN UP
Review: Of course, this is a spoof! This is like a 90-minute episode of The Simpsons or South Park. If you doubt it, simply refer to the increasingly absurd developments that take place in the second half of the film. WAG THE DOG lacks the sophistication of the 1964 satire, DR. STRANGELOVE (which, after all, was presented to a more literate, pre-Flower Power, necktie-wearing public, rather than to the post-MTV, DVD generation), but WAG is not bad for a one-time viewing. There is plenty of excellent photography in here; and pretty good editing, too. Good slapstick. There's NO way the film-makers were taking this production too seriously. Get yourself into cartoon-and-snack mode and enjoy this gag. As for the reviewers who believe the secret to how the world really works is exposed in this film I can only say: get a clue. If anything, this is how Hollywood works to create and market a film, and this aspect was at least as interesting as the thin plotline.
Rating:
Summary: Truer with age....
Review: This satire directed by Barry Levinson (And Justice For All) rather than becoming 'dated' gets more delicious and enlightening with age. The title 'Wag The Dog', originally referred to the need for reality to fashion itself to conform to the power of television. In order to play to the people, the facts had to be styled to meet the method of distribution. The film now offers a much greater lesson and a warning to the population of the great lengths to which politicians and the government might go to deceive the American people and/or fabricate 'truth' to suit their own end. The commentary, although only five years old, has become the most 'dated' feature on the DVD. The multiple occurrences of: the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, the terrorists and 09/11/2001, colored ribbons, 'spontaneous' waves of patriotism, and the recent war in Iraq (particularly the revelation of the true facts surrounding the rescue of Jessica Lynch) have made 'Wag The Dog' more cutting edge with the advent of each individual incident. Today's viewers must continually and repeatedly jolt themselves back to reality with reminders that they are NOT viewing an educational documentary on 'spin' or a how-to-film outlining methods for fabricating and implementing diversion, but are instead viewing an entertaining and satirical film developed well before the occurrence of any of the events listed above. This is a film where David Mamet, well known for his realistic dialogue, had the character's speaking the future in a most frightening way. 'Wag The Dog' is great viewing for new and repeat viewers alike. It is a reminder of how we the public can be misled by what we see and hear in the press and on television. The film itself is however not misleading, but thought-provoking, and as it chillingly turns out, perhaps even more realistic than we knew in 1997.
Rating:
Summary: Good Old Shoe as "Jessica Lynch"?
Review: Very Intersting Movie. When I heard the news that Jessica Lynch,Rescued POW in the "Operation Iraqi Freedom", has Amnesia,the news reminds me of this movie. May be,may be .....her episode was a kind of "Good old shoe"one("Good Old Shoe" is a character in "Wag the dog" who is a MIA rescued in Alabania.But his rescue was setup by a Spindoctor hired by White House ). And ,Who is Dustin Hoffman,a Producer and De Niro,a Spindoctor in this iraq war? so, this is a very very inersting movie,even today.
Rating:
Summary: Does it remind you something?
Review: So rescued wounded 'Hero' is coming triumphantly home.
Does it remind you something?
Rating:
Summary: Bush's study guide, too
Review: This is an excellent movie for showing the ways in which members of unquestioning and geographically illiterate media can be manipulated into working for the benefit of major political figures. There are many similarities between the plot of this film and Clinton's handling of his sex scandal; but there are also striking similarities with the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq crisis ("Old Shoe"--the "soldier we left behind"--comes to mind). It is a dark, nonpartisan, humorous look at the unholy alliance between Info-tainment and politics. This is not to say the movie is perfect; but Hoffman, DeNiro, Heche, Harrelson--even Willie Nelson--are perfect for their roles. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Wag the Dog: A revist
Review: This movie is, above all, an interesting piece. I have read other reviewers/critics who may have, in part, missed the context of the film. It is a film about how a crisis is managed. In this management, there is also a degree of manipulation, drama to tailor to the masses vulnerabilities, there is also a strong drive and movement towards diversion and in this diversion it shifts the public viewer or attempts to shift the viewer into a different arena. And in this arena, confusion takes hold of the viewer and within time it is a wait and see "determination period" as to whether or not, the viewer will buy in to the propaganda.
In this film the president is caught in a sex scandal and Mr. Fix-it(Robert Deniro) is called in the repair the damage. Along with Deniro is Hoffman. Both characters do an excellent job on repairing this problem with "crisis management." Again, this is from the perspective of a viewer who is enjoyed the film.
On a more true to real level, many higher circles have had their share of influencing, diverting, and in communicating a degree of propaganda to shift the public eyes attention. If only the viewer were to be more conscientious about his/her information and in how they process that information. Like the old say goes, "we can't believe everything we read."
I applaud the directors and producers for a job well done. This film has indeed trespassed other barriers of silence in film producers and directors.
This is a good political film and I would highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Satire is more spirit than letter
Review: [Other reviewers} generally miss the point of Wag the Dog by focusing on the plausibility of the events depicted as they might connect to the real world rather than the spirit of this inspired and unnerving satire. Sure, it is likely too unwieldy to stage a phony war from start to finish with all the accompanying public manipulations, but there is no doubt that presidents and their handlers use war and the threat of conflict as sleights of hand to distract citizens from uncomfortable matters. If you think this is far-fetched, you're either not paying critical attention to current events or you've more or less bought into the messages that arrive generally unfiltered from the top through our mainstream media outlets. Wag the Dog is a movie, a fantasy, but it rings true enough when you consider how willing journalists and their bosses are to take as articles of faith what is handed to them from the press offices of the White House, the RNC, and the DNC. This is no conspiracy story, it's simply the way things operate.
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