Wag the Dog

Wag the Dog was reportedly shot in a very short time. Perhaps that can be an advantage. The film is at any rate a tight little affair, a satire without any deeper perspective, but it effectively skewers media people and the power of the media in the modern world.

Wag the Dog got extra publicity when it coincided with the sensational cases of President Clinton's escapades in the White House. For the film's president has this in common with Clinton: he cannot keep his hands to himself. A scandal is brewing in the White House, but then the communications director Winifred Ames calls in the miracle worker Conrad Brean. Brean's countermove is to fabricate a news story that is even bigger than the president's seduction of a girl scout. Brean wants to start a war against Albania, a fictional one, mind you. Together with Winifred Ames, Brean contacts the Hollywood producer Stanley Motts, who more than anyone can create the war the president needs. From there the story rolls on.

Wag the Dog has the most energy in its first half. After that the film flags a little. Perhaps that was why I found it so hard to stay awake.