Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
82K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- Larry Beinhart(book "American Hero")
- Hilary Henkin(screenplay)
- David Mamet(screenplay)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Larry Beinhart(book "American Hero")
- Hilary Henkin(screenplay)
- David Mamet(screenplay)
- Stars
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 wins & 23 nominations total
Videos1
- Director
- Writers
- Larry Beinhart(book "American Hero")
- Hilary Henkin(screenplay)
- David Mamet(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
After being caught in a scandalous situation days before the election, the president does not seem to have much of a chance of being re-elected. One of his advisers contacts a top Hollywood producer in order to manufacture a war in Albania that the president can heroically end, all through mass media. —Christy
- Taglines
- Is this life imitating art in the film that preceded the biggest news story of 1998.
- Genres
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for language
- Parents guide
Did you know
- Trivia"Why change horses midstream?" was originally a campaign slogan for Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
- GoofsWhen the coffin is unloaded from the aircraft, the flag is positioned properly, with the blue field over deceased's left shoulder. At the memorial service, the blue is over the deceased's right shoulder.
- Quotes
[Repeated line]
Stanley Motss: This is NOTHING.
- Crazy credits"Special Thanks to The Cast and Crew for Completing Principal Photography in 29 Days!"
- SoundtracksThank Heaven for Little Girls
Written by Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe
Performed by Maurice Chevalier
Heard sarcatically during TV spot accusing the President of sexually exploiting an underage girl
Top review
Short & sharp satire on media manipulation
During the campaign to re-elect the president of America, an underage sex scandal between a girl scout and the president in the oval office. To divert attention spin doctor Conrad Brean is called in to manage the fall out and hold it off for the 11 days till the election. Conrad employs Hollywood producer Stanley Motss to produce a war in Albania to divert the media away from the real story.
This was made before Clinton was accused of misconduct with Monica Lewinsky and the subsequent re-start of military action in Iraq. This seemed to give it a much greater feel of realism and much more credibility. However even before this happened it was still a very sharp and very good satire on political spin, but also managing to have a dig at Hollywood movie types. The story is told in a very stage-play fashion and is dialogue driven with very funny moments throughout. It's not as terrifying as a real look at media manipulation could be because it chooses to be a comedy instead but it still makes plenty of valid points.
The two leads are excellent at the head of an all-star cast. De Niro manages to be a professor-style character while at the same time having an easily accessible sense of menace just beneath the surface. Hoffman is good sending up Hollywood producers well and drawing parallels between the creation of a film and the creation of political news stories. The cast also has a series of cameos and extended cameos who add both humour and quality to the film - Willie Nelson, Denis Leary, James Belsuhi, William H Macy etc.
Recently in the UK we've had huge problems with spin doctors running the Labour Government - to the extent that 11th September was described as "good" by one as it gave them the chance to bury several bad news stories that they had stored up. And more recently with various Governments' waging a media war to win support their stance regarding military action. This film doesn't make hugely serious points but it does make you think about how the media is used to shape public perception and make us think what those in charge want us to think.
Overall a very funny, very clever satire that has a great cast, the only criticism being that it stretches it's point a little too far with the "old shoe" section.
This was made before Clinton was accused of misconduct with Monica Lewinsky and the subsequent re-start of military action in Iraq. This seemed to give it a much greater feel of realism and much more credibility. However even before this happened it was still a very sharp and very good satire on political spin, but also managing to have a dig at Hollywood movie types. The story is told in a very stage-play fashion and is dialogue driven with very funny moments throughout. It's not as terrifying as a real look at media manipulation could be because it chooses to be a comedy instead but it still makes plenty of valid points.
The two leads are excellent at the head of an all-star cast. De Niro manages to be a professor-style character while at the same time having an easily accessible sense of menace just beneath the surface. Hoffman is good sending up Hollywood producers well and drawing parallels between the creation of a film and the creation of political news stories. The cast also has a series of cameos and extended cameos who add both humour and quality to the film - Willie Nelson, Denis Leary, James Belsuhi, William H Macy etc.
Recently in the UK we've had huge problems with spin doctors running the Labour Government - to the extent that 11th September was described as "good" by one as it gave them the chance to bury several bad news stories that they had stored up. And more recently with various Governments' waging a media war to win support their stance regarding military action. This film doesn't make hugely serious points but it does make you think about how the media is used to shape public perception and make us think what those in charge want us to think.
Overall a very funny, very clever satire that has a great cast, the only criticism being that it stretches it's point a little too far with the "old shoe" section.
helpful•394
- bob the moo
- Jan 4, 2002
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Bite the Bullet
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $15,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $43,061,945
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $92,079
- Dec 28, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $64,256,513
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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