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Wag the Dog is a 1997 film starring Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman, about a Washington spin doctor who distracts the electorate from a U.S. presidential sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood producer, played by Dustin Hoffman, to construct a fake war with Albania. The scheme enlists the musician Willie Nelson (who creates a theme song for the 'war'). Hoffman's character was based directly upon Robert Evans; Hoffman emulated Evans' work habits, mannerisms, quirks, clothing style, hairstyle, and his large square-framed eyeglasses; the real Evans is said to have joked, "I'm magnificent in this film."
ag the Dog was produced and directed by Barry Levinson.
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Quotations
Good. Good. Good. Looking Good, bring-it-all-back-home. Lassie barks twice 'n' it's time to take out the garbage.
A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.
It's like a plumber: if you do it OK, nobody notices, if you fuck up, it gets full of shit.
Johnny, I got a lot of people here who are a little depressed because the war just ended, please give me a new song.
King, King, I got a thing here, a product placement, gonna have a bigger back-end than Hattie McDaniel.
No, I think a Calico kitten.
Encyclopedia
Wag the Dog is a 1997 film starring Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman, about a Washington spin doctor who distracts the electorate from a U.S. presidential sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood producer, played by Dustin Hoffman, to construct a fake war with Albania. The scheme enlists the musician Willie Nelson (who creates a theme song for the 'war'). Hoffman's character was based directly upon Robert Evans; Hoffman emulated Evans' work habits, mannerisms, quirks, clothing style, hairstyle, and his large square-framed eyeglasses; the real Evans is said to have joked, "I'm magnificent in this film."
Plot
Wag the Dog was produced and directed by Barry Levinson. Hilary Henkin and David Mamet co-wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the novel American Hero by Larry Beinhart. The book, however, differs greatly from the picture. In the book the president is specifically George H. W. Bush (in the movie he is unnamed) and the fake war operation is explicitly Desert Storm.
When an unnamed President of the United States is caught in a closed room with a young girl scout less than two weeks before re-election, an aide (played by Robert DeNiro) is brought in to try and take the public attention away from the scandal. He decides to construct a fake war with Albania, hoping the media will concentrate on this instead. In order to come up with his 'war', he contacts a Hollywood producer (Hoffman), who brings in a series of specialists who help construct a theme song, build up interest and fake some footage of an orphan in Albania.
The plan's continual setbacks (including having to use a convicted Army man to be their 'hero' who was "shot down behind enemy lines") don't disturb the producer, who continues to yell "This is NOTHING!" while talking about some Hollywood catastrophe that had to be averted. In the end, with the election done and the President re-elected, everything seems fine - until the producer finds out from the news outlets that the media are crediting the President's tired "Don't change horses in midstream" campaign slogan with his win, rather than his elaborate plans. The producer is about to call the media to 'set them straight', when the President's aide has him killed and make it look like he had a heart-attack while tanning next to his pool.
The film drew attention at the time for similarities to the Clinton sex scandal, especially after Operation Infinite Reach, although the movie also makes reference to the Persian Gulf War as an example of war used as an electoral tactic. The film also explores the similarities between politics and Hollywood.
Cast
Writing credits
Controversy surrounds the writing credits of the movie. Original drafter Henkin took the film’s producers to court and threatened to quit the Writers Guild of America after director Barry Levinson chose not to award her a screenwriting credit.
As a reviewer wrote at the time of the film's release:
- According to Levinson, Mamet had never read the novel nor Henkin's script, and the only commonality between Henkin's draft and the shooting script was the premise of a make-believe war. Citing clear-cut differences between the two scripts, including the entire Hollywood-angle and the soldier left behind enemy lines in Mamet's creation, Levinson appealed the ruling, but was rebuffed.
Music
The film featured many songs created entirely for the fictitious campaign waged by the protagonists: "Good Old Shoe", "The American Dream" and "The Men of the 303" are but salient examples. None of these pieces made it onto the soundtrack which was released on CD: it featured only the title track, by British guitarist/vocalist Mark Knopfler, and seven of Knopfler's Instrumentals.
See also
- Astroturfing, a controversial public relations practice depicted in the film
- Canadian Bacon, a film about an American war started for similar reasons
External links
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