satirical films usually fall into one of two categories : 1 ) long-term satire where everything , including the jokes , is somehow related on a large scale ( i . e . " dr . strangelove " ; 2 ) situation satire in which the comedy and themes are derived moment by moment and scene by scene ( i . e . " men in black " ) . what's unique about " wag the dog " is that it doesn't necessarily fit either of these descriptions , and yet is both at the same time . the result is a clever comedy based on an original , smart premise , even if the focus does tend to wander a bit . if there's anything that affects americans the most it's politics and showbusiness . in this age of information and technology , we've been so conditioned by the media and the entertainment industry in our ways of perceiving things , it's gotten to the point that we are practically controlled by it . we need the media to bring us the most up-to-date news , but we also need the escapism of hollywood to counter all that thinking . this film starts off well by quickly establishing these ideas , and then presents an interesting scenario : if politics , the media coverage of politics , and the entertainment industry are so closely related , couldn't someone with the power and authority to manipulate one of the aspects manipulate them all ? that's the idea conrad brean ( de niro ) , a professional washington spin doctor , comes up with in order to restore the president's good name who has been accused of child molestation just weeks before the election . brean , along with the president's top advisor , winifred ames ( heche ) , fly to california to meet up with hot-shot movie producer stanley motss ( hoffman ) . they pitch him an idea to " produce " the image of a war with albania ( it's a country no one's heard of so they people will buy it ) . soon the wheels are in motion and the film's riffing satire comes into play . we're inundated with the hollywood mind set as motss brings in a number of experts to help manage the situation , such as a folk singer , visual and sound effects technicians , and a modern style expert known as the fad king ( leary ) . the initial atmosphere is rich with numerous pop culture references where everything somehow relates to something on tv , in the movies , or in the news . the characters' dialogue is witty and funny , although some of the actual jokes and gags seem rather sitcom-esque . for example , one scene shows motss and brean's production crew filming an actress portraying a poor albanian refugee . motss ordered a kitten for the girl to carry , but instead wound up with a dozen different dogs . since it's all computer-enhanced anyway , she ends up cradling a bag of tostitos with the kitten to be inserted later . this demonstrates the film's ability to take a relatively ordinary situation and make it smart and funny just through the premise . but then there's the gags and one-liners that , although are humorous , seem a little gratuitious in the long run such as motss not being able to remember the actress's name , or , whenever a problem emerges , always responding with , " this is nothing ! " by the time the film makes it to the midpoint , everything that is going to happen in terms of plot happens . the first act is quickly paced , while the second act contains most of the jokes and is the core of the film . every ten minutes or so a new problem crops up that motss and brean must deal with , and it's always fascinating to see what they do and how they do it . the screenplay provides good characterization and actually deals with most of the problems head-on in realistic manners . however , it does have a tendency to avoid things and shift its focus from the election campaign and false war smokescreen to something a bit off the subject . as the third act rolls around the satirical nature becomes more concerned with the situations and less so with the big picture . what had started off as a brilliant , somewhat harmless conspiracy to fool the general public begins to seem more like something that would happen in a movie . still , the situation comedy is quite funny , especially a montage showing the entire country flinging old shoes into trees to honor sgt . willie schumann - a war hero motss and brean concocted . truly great satire manages to create for an entertaining story that makes you laugh at the time , but think about afterwards and " wag the dog " at least succeeds in this respect . however , in retrospect it seems like so much more could have been done , namely by extending the running time and filling in the plot holes . then again , it's a valiant effort .
