The idea sags near the end, but for some time, it is right on.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 19, 2023

...I’ll simply let the movie explain itself and recommend it highly for anyone interested in satirical filmmaking.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 7, 2023

...a vitriolic comedy/satire that venomously assesses the lack of morality in the modern media and politics...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 9, 2021

Perhaps what's so surprising about 1997's Wag the Dog is how the political satire feels so realistic over twenty years following its theatrical release.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 19, 2020

...a fairly static drama that contains few elements worth connecting to or wholeheartedly embracing...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 7, 2019

If anything, in the years since its release, the worlds of politics, entertainment, and news media have grown even more intertwined in which narratives are carefully controlled and expectations are minimal.

| Jan 2, 2018

'Wag the Dog,' a movie that's fun to see more than once, comes across as a bitingly funny satire of politics, the media and show business.

| Sep 25, 2011

Entertaining, creepily resonant political comedy.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 18, 2010

Smart political satire from director Barry Levinson.

| Mar 30, 2009

Anyone who would be inherently interested in this kind of sendup is unlikely to be surprised by anything in this film -- overall it feels like a trifle, if an entertaining one.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 30, 2009

Hilary Henkin and David Mamet's script is gleefully hyperbolic without ever straying from its political target.

| Mar 30, 2009

Twisty and flat-out hilarious.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 29, 2009

Feels tossed-off and casual in the best way.

| Original Score: A | Jul 24, 2007

Strong performances abound in the film.

| Original Score: B+ | May 9, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 30, 2006

I doubt it will age as well as Network, but it is close to that realm of brilliance.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 16, 2006

Lazily assembled by director Levinson, it slides into a series of soft, extended skits on engineering a media war, not helped by several badly handled leaps in the story.

| Jan 26, 2006

Beyond a couple of hilarious zingers, its impact feels smug and minor.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Brilliantly scripted and acted to the point where even Barry Levinson's typically uninspired direction doesn't matter.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 17, 2005

Levinson has created a surprising quickie that satirically strikes out at our political system, the media (easy target) and the whole business of image versus reality.

| Original Score: B | Apr 9, 2005