satirical films usually fall into one of two categories : 1 ) long - term satire where everything , including the jokes , is somehow related on a large scale ( i . e .
"
dr .
strangelove " ; 2 ) situation satire in which the comedy and themes are derived moment by moment and scene by scene ( i .
e .
" men in black " ) .
what 's unique about " wag the dog " is that it does n't necessarily fit either of these descriptions , and yet is both at the same time .
the result is a clever comedy based on an original , smart premise , even if the focus does tend to wander a bit .
if there 's anything that affects americans the most it 's politics and showbusiness .
in this age of information and technology , we 've been so conditioned by the media and the entertainment industry in our ways of perceiving things , it 's gotten to the point that we are practically controlled by it .
we need the media to bring us the most up - to - date news , but we also need the escapism of hollywood to counter all that thinking .
this film starts off well by quickly establishing these ideas , and then presents an interesting scenario : if politics , the media coverage of politics , and the entertainment industry are so closely related , could n't someone with the power and authority to manipulate one of the aspects manipulate them all ?
that 's
the idea conrad brean ( de niro ) , a professional washington spin doctor , comes up with in order to restore the president 's good name who has been accused of child molestation just weeks before the election .
brean , along with the president 's top advisor , winifred ames ( heche ) , fly to california to meet up with hot - shot movie producer stanley motss ( hoffman ) .
they pitch him an idea to " produce " the image of a war with albania ( it 's a country no one 's heard of
so they people will buy it ) .
soon the wheels are in motion and the film 's riffing satire comes into play .
we 're inundated with the hollywood mind set as motss brings in a number of experts to help manage the situation , such as a folk singer , visual and sound effects technicians , and a modern style expert known as the fad king ( leary ) .
the initial atmosphere is rich with numerous pop culture references where everything somehow relates to something on tv , in the movies , or in the news .
the characters ' dialogue is witty and funny , although some of the actual jokes and gags seem rather sitcom - esque .
for example , one scene shows motss and brean 's production crew filming an actress portraying a poor albanian refugee .
motss ordered a kitten for the girl to carry , but instead wound up with a dozen different dogs .
since it 's all computer - enhanced anyway , she ends up cradling a bag of tostitos with the kitten to be inserted later .
this demonstrates the film 's ability to take a relatively ordinary situation and make it smart and funny just through the premise .
but then there 's the gags and one - liners that , although are humorous , seem a little gratuitious in the long run such as motss not being able to remember the actress 's name ,
or , whenever a problem emerges , always responding with , " this is nothing !
" by the time the film makes it to the midpoint , everything that is going to happen in terms of plot happens .
the first act is quickly paced , while the second act contains most of the jokes and is the core of the film .
every ten minutes or so a new problem crops up that motss and brean must deal with , and
it 's always fascinating to see what they do and how they do it .
the screenplay provides good characterization and actually deals with most of the problems head - on in realistic manners .
however , it does have a tendency to avoid things and shift its focus from the election campaign and false war smokescreen to something a bit off the subject .
as the third act rolls around the satirical nature becomes more concerned with the situations and less so with the big picture .
what had started off as a brilliant , somewhat harmless conspiracy to fool the general public begins to seem more like something that would happen in a movie .
still , the situation comedy is quite funny , especially a montage showing the entire country flinging old shoes into trees to honor sgt .
willie schumann - a war hero
motss and brean concocted .
truly great satire manages to create for an entertaining story that makes you laugh at the time , but think about afterwards and " wag the dog " at least succeeds in this respect .
however , in retrospect it seems like so much more could have been done , namely by extending the running time and filling in the plot holes .
then again , it 's a valiant effort .
Output: P