Wag the Dog, 1997

I'm suprised this film didn't receive more attention when it was released. It is an insightful, biting, and (unfortunately) plausible story fuelled by taking our current war-as-entertainment reality and pushing it to the edge of credibility. De Niro is fantastic as the play-your-cards-close-to-your chest mastermind behind the plot to save the presidency by manufacturing the war in Albania. The film has many moments of biting satire drawn from existing relationships between media and political events. The cart does indeed drive the horse: or, as the movie's title suggests, media do not simply report, but have become producers of war as it is conveyed to the public. I found this a wonderful work, worthy of multiple viewings, for an honest look at the amazing, conscienceless spin-doctoring a la CNN coverage of the gulf war. The plot is a bit of a stretch but, after watching it, the viewer realizes, not nearly as great a stretch on the viewers credibility. "It must be real, I saw it on television." A great, biting satire.

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that cast doesn't go to waste in this shrewd satire about politics, media and the (non existing) boundaries between them. really worth watching.

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