Wag the Dog - Review

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Khushboo Singh M. A. Film & TV Production, Amity School of Communication, Amity University. 16 February 2014 Movie Review - Wag the Dog Wag the Dog is a 1997 black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson loosely adapted from a novel American Hero. The film stars Dustin Hoffan and Robert De Niro with Anne Heche, Denis Leary and William H. Macy in supporting roles. A political spin doctor, Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro), and a Hollywood producer, Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman), both bestowed with extreme self confidence and dynamism, set out to create the illusion that the USA has gone to war with Albania, as a distraction from the acting President’s sex affair with a minor as elections are just days away. The plot takes it audience on a mind gripping tale of comedy and errors. Wag the Dog is smart satire on the entwined worlds of media, politics and show business. It really makes you wonder about what actually goes on “behind the scenes” in politics, and if the stuff the media feeds us is legit or just a product of movie magic and monkey business. It's half a brilliant political satire, half a surreal comedy of errors. Causality of the characters and the “chilled out” dialogues only add to the brilliant script. The acting is top notch, deNiro and Hoffman are hilarious and spunky. The first and second part of the film is full of dark humour, excitement and sarcasm. The last third of the film is powered by too much of conventional drama giving away the ending way too easily. Overall the film is definitely worth the watch and the things it says about media, politics and show biz are sad, funny and true and yet stays entertaining and tongue in cheek.

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