Wag the Dog Summary
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Barry Levinson
Genres: Comedy
Rating:
In a 29-day shoot, Barry_Levinson filmed this 15 million political and media satire, adapted by Hilary_Henkin and David_Mamet from Larry_Beinhart's novel, -American Hero. Two weeks prior to re-election, the President (Michael_Belson) is accused of cornering an underage girl in the Oval Office. To keep the media from learning of this, Presidential adviser Winifred Ames (Anne_Heche) brings in political consultant and spin doctor Conrad Brean (Robert_De_Niro), a specialist in such salvage operations. Brean suggests fabricating denials of non-existent emergencies -- such as denials about the B-3 bomber. The denial, of course, is true, since no B-3 bomber exists. Brean visits the mansion of Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin_Hoffman) and gives him the assignment to create a patriotic campaign centered around a war in Albania. Motss assembles a creative team -- Liz Butsky (Andrea_Martin), the trend-setter Fad King (Denis_Leary), and songwriter Johnny Green (Willie_Nelson). Treated like an ad campaign, the songs and symbols are transmitted directly from a Hollywood soundstage to CNN. The star of their campaign is a "rescued" pilot -- in reality, a psychotic military prisoner (Woody_Harrelson), who's a ticking time bomb. The flag-waving song, "The American Dream" was written for the film by Tom_Bahler (who co-wrote "We Are the World"). Beinhart's original novel involved a real President (Bush), a real war (the Gulf War), and the premise that George Bush and Saddam Hussein staged it. Bhob Stewart, Rovi
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