WAG THE DOG

(New Line Cinema)
Director: Barry Levinson
Producers: Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Barry Levinson
Executive Producers: Michael De Luca, Claire Rudnick Polstein, Ezra Swerdlow
Screenwriters: Hilary Henkin, David Mamet
Director of Photography: Robert Richardson
Editor: Stu Linder

Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Willie Nelson, Andrea Martin, Kirsten Dunst, William H. Macy, John Michael Higgins, Suzie Plakson

Quick Review: WAG THE DOG is a satirical combination of THE WAR ROOM and DR. STRANGELOVE. It will seem like a straight drama to the world's conspiracy theorists, but it also works as a brilliant political satire for everyone saner than the Unabomber. The ultimate behind-the-scenes politico saves a brainless president from scandal right before an election by faking a war with the help of a Hollywood producer. Here's the surprise: the ultimate internalizer, De Niro, plays the political puppetmaster and Hoffman plays the producer without taking time to tweak ambiguities from their characters. They, and the rest of the cast, let the driving rhythm of David Mamet's script convince you that the over-the-top concept must happen all the time. Director Barry Levinson knew where the strength of this film lay, and got his cast to go along with it.

Rating (on a four-star scale):

---

Interview with Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro.
Return to Flicks home page.