Wag the Dog (1997)

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.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers:

Larry Beinhart (book), Hilary Henkin (screenplay)

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dustin Hoffman	...	Stanley Motss
Robert De Niro	...	Conrad Brean
Anne Heche	...	Winifred Ames
Woody Harrelson	...	Sgt. William Schumann
Denis Leary	...	Fad King
Willie Nelson	...	Johnny Dean
Andrea Martin	...	Liz Butsky
Michael Belson	...	President
Suzanne Cryer	...	Amy Cain
John Michael Higgins	...	John Levy
Suzie Plakson	...	Grace
Kirsten Dunst	...	Tracy Lime
Jason Cottle	...	A.D.
David Koechner	...	Director
Harland Williams	...	Pet Wrangler

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.

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Plot Keywords:

black comedy | satire | scandal | political corruption | political conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The talk show phone number, 1-800-555-0199, is common to many films and television shows, because this is the only number that has been reserved by the phone company as an allowable fake 1-800 number for media usage.

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Goofs

The correct word in Spanish for senator is "Senador", not "Sénador", as it appears on Spanish-language TV when referring to the opposition leader.

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Quotes

Conrad 'Connie' Brean: You can't tell anyone about this.
Tracy Lime: It is like a union thing?

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Crazy Credits

Dustin Hoffman's main title credit is faded in over a close up of a vacuum cleaner.

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Connections

References King Kong (1933)

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Soundtracks

Taps
(uncredited)
Composed by Daniel Butterfield (as Butterfield)
[heard when Schumann's body arrives]

User Reviews

Fascinating and Interesting.

Barry Levinson's under-rated "Wag the Dog" is a brilliant piece of satire which is to the 1990s what "All the President's Men" was to the 1970s. The president is in trouble after a sexual scandal with an under-aged girl. Enter Robert DeNiro and Anne Heche who want to distract the nation with something else as they try to get their boss out of the hot seat. The only problem is: nothing is going on. So it is up to them to create something to rally the country around the executive-in-chief. Now enter sleazy, but high class Hollywood director Dustin Hoffman (in a well-deserved Oscar-nominated turn) who is contacted to start an imaginary war. He agrees and the plan works, but as time goes by more and more problems occur and the lies continue to snow-ball. Levinson's excellent direction and Hilary Henkin's clever screenplay raise the performances of all involved. Naturally DeNiro and Hoffman are guaranteed to excel in a film like this, but good work is also done by people like Heche, Denis Leary, William H. Macy, Woody Harrelson and even Willie Nelson (!?). Somewhat ignored in 1997, but still one of the best films of that year and one of the more important films of the 1990s. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Details

Official Sites:

Barry Levinson Production Notes 1

Country:

USA

Language:

English Albanian

Release Date:

9 January 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bite the Bullet

Filming Locations:

El Cholo,1121 S Western, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$92,079, 28 December 1997

Gross USA:

$43,061,945

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$64,256,513

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baltimore Pictures, New Line Cinema, Punch Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1