Wag the Dog

Days before a presidential election a sex scandal breaks. The White House calls in a fixer, who partners with a Hollywood producer to manufacture a war in Albania, complete with footage, a theme song, a hero and a tearful refugee girl. It comes from Larry Beinhart's 1993 novel American Hero. The writing credit turned into a fight, with the Writers Guild intervening so Hilary Henkin shared screenplay credit with David Mamet over Levinson's objection. Its reputation rests on how far ahead of events it was. A month after release the Clinton and Lewinsky scandal broke, and eight months later the Clinton administration bombed the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, with the press pointing straight at this film. The same comparison came back during the 1998 bombing of Iraq and the 1999 intervention in Kosovo. Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro star. On a 15 million dollar budget it grossed 64.3 million. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 86 percent, with a consensus calling it smart, well-acted and uncomfortably prescient. Hoffman was nominated for Best Actor and the film for Adapted Screenplay. Who it is for: viewers who like political satire and stories about media manipulation. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace. This is almost entirely a dialogue comedy set in rooms.