Film Review: Wag The Dog
The thing that bothers me the most about "Wag the Dog" is that the film never takes a hand off the brakes. Director Barry Levinson has taken a gem of a script and has turned it into a flatly-paced, albeit bitingly-funny, comedy. There is so much wonderful material there that the film should have delivered at least one rollercoaster comedy scene that left you gasping a bit for air when you stopped laughing.
But when that’s the worst criticism about a film, you know you still have a very good film on your hands. Anne Heche has the tastiest roll here, as the presidential adviser who is working most of the strings in the marionnette show in front of us. Robert DeNiro is very tame in his roll as the spin doctor, who feeds Heche a steady stream of storylines that divert the public’s attention away from the president’s dubious sex scandal. (The movie was filmed before "Monica" became a household name, so life imitates art in this case.)
Dustin Hoffman, as the over-tanned and well-connected Hollywood producer who never gets enough of the credit, received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Heche was sadly overlooked. The film’s second Oscar nomination is for Best Adapted Screenplay. "Wag the Dog" will likely not take home either Oscar, however, since both categories feature far better nominees.
RON SAYS: Highly Recommended