Review ; Wag the Dog

A very smart tail..

The Satire  “Wag the Dog” published in 1997,  based on the novel “American hero” by Larry Beinharrt is a film with a top-class cast: the protagonist is played by Robert de Niro and the determined producer Stanley Motss is played by the Oscar-nominated actor Dustin Hoffman. Both ,movie and actors, were nominated for several awards (among other things the Oscar (1998) and the Golden Globe Award (1998) ).

The movie tells from a team of spindoctors around the incumbent president. They have the difficult job  to “rescue” the president from a scandal so that he  wins the elction against his rival Senator Neal. But to camouflage the incident with the girl the team has to invent a new story they can sell to the public. With a decent portion of humor the film shows how easy the media can manipulate the people and which enormous scales it can take on. The hole movie creates a certain tension because they have not much time till the election and not everything works like they wanted it to work. But that again makes the film funny, too. Ames, Brean and Motss are the protagonists and I think they act their part really good. Brean and Ames are the right hand of the president and they have to save his image . They are working hand in hand  and really exactly, everything is planned. Motss is engaged to make the thing perfect and to make it seem real. He has many good ideas. “This is nothing” is something like his motto and his favourite saying. No matter how difficult and desperate the situation is Motts has ever a new idea. Chargeable to Ames nerves. She is always sceptical about his thoughts. In contrast to her Brean is very relaxed. All in all I think Motts is the most likeable person; he is so bubbly and a bit crazy and that makes the hole thing seem not so perfect.

Lastly I want to recommend the film to you.The background or the hole film encourges to think and to discuss. It is scary how their methods to manipualte the people  function. And some unplanned things make it really entertaining.  When you like movies with a bit action, tension and a big secret in the center which is not allowed to be brought to light – you should see this movie. Enjoy it and be surprised about the end!