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 was n'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 wo n'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 wo n't be able to locate albania on the map .
the beauty of wag the dog is that it is n'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 ca n'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 do n'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 do n't .
strikes that delicate balance handle the musical end of things fabulously a funny movie so well acted giddy , exuberant and joyous