An entertaining satire of American politics. It features good performances from a great cast. A good film. I recommend. 80/100

This political satire is a little dated in some of its details but its scathing attitude towards political scandals and cover ups is timeless.

The really genius movie about how politics works :)

I really liked the talented actors

Its a really good movie.

Two weeks prior to reelection, the United States president lands in the middle of a sex scandal. In need of outside help to quell the situation, presidential adviser Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) enlists the expertise of spin doctor Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro), who decides a distraction is the best course of action. Brean approaches Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) to help him fabricate a war in Albania -- and once underway, the duo has the media entirely focused on the war.

Don't get me wrong, there are some perfectly executed cynical moments here (The patriotic songs, the fact that no one disputes the fake war but merely create a separate false narrative, etc.) but the movie still feels lacking. Even at the time this was made Presidents didn't need to create a fake war as a distraction, they simply bombed real people.

A movie about so many subject mattes that if you break down into reality its actually a horror movie than a political comedy.

Watching it now the movie dates itself for a while as none of this could happen in the social media era. Then, it takes turns that are so absurd in any era and makes it fun.

This peculiar comedy was pretty good. Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Heche, Woody Harrelson, Kirsten Dunst, William H. Macy, John Michael Higgins, and the rest of the cast did a pretty good job in this movie. The plot of the movie was kind of entertaining, a little dramatic, and odd. It's about a group of people that fabricate a war in order to shift focus on a sex scandal that involves the President. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you might like it. I kind of liked it, but not as much as I'd hoped to. It all depends on what you think of it.

Featuring stellar performances from Hoffman, De Niro, and Heche, while also fully utilizing its thought-provoking and intelligently written story, "Wag the Dog" stands as a timeless classic and a film that, as time goes on, can really only be more and more appreciated. An absolute triumph and an instant must-watch!

I'd say this is easily one of the best political comedies ever made.

Wag the Dog became hugely relevant just months after its release. A certain intern and a certain high-ranking American government official made sure of that. Yet to this very day, it's an extremely satirical showcase of how false flags and global psyops infect the public at large. With each passing decade, it starts to seem less like a satire but just a miniscule exaggeration, an artistic license almost, where they just changed some names. We can thank the internet for that one. Now you don't need to drive around the city at midnight throwing shoes on wires. Just make a tweet about how you saw it happening. Snopes will verify it, depending on the agenda.  The movie itself is pretty solid. Although the third act goes a little off the rails. I don't think the movie even remotely tried to seem realistic in many of its scenes with the snappy and witty banter of actors who seemingly read the script and know they will succeed in their complicated scheme. But that plane crash just lifts the movie off the ground, making it float in clown pants for a bit. The soundtrack is amazing, and so is the cinematography. Richardson made the movie look so much richer and slicker than it probably had any right to be.  That's nothing for him, I guess.

A scathing political satire, Barry Levinson's Wag the Dog is absurd in virtually every respect but somehow feels frighteningly plausible. ‘Connie' Brean(Robert De Niro) is a spin doctor brought in to draw attention away from a sexual scandal involving the president eleven days before the election. With the assistance of Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) they create the ultimate distraction, a fabricated war against Albania. The story is great, the dialogue is intelligent, the message is timeless, and the cast is impressive (Woody Harrelson is hilarious in a small role and Anne Heche is fantastic as a presidential aide). The film skewers manipulative media, shameless political maneuvering, and the gullibility of the American public. And deservedly so.

This reminds me of many of the movies from the 90s made by actors and directors who were past their prime and created films that seemed dated on release and full of themselves. I felt like DeNiro and Hoffman have played these same roles a hundred times. The rest of the cast was filled with famous faces and cameos that nudged and winked at the office. Oh, look, Andrea Martin. Oh, my, Willie Nelson. Etc.

Entertaining black comedy about how politics & media strongly influence one another. Good acting, too!

When an underage girl alleges that the President of the United States made a pass at her about ten days before a national election, it's time to bomb Albania. Wag the Dog probably had more bite in the late-90s, but still possesses enough political commentary and comically ludicrous plot to merit a watch. Basically, a team consisting of a ‘Fad King' (Denis Leary), a "spin doctor" (Robert De Niro), a movie producer (Dustin Hoffman, who had the only standout performance), and other PR specialists must do everything they can to take the heat off the President, even if that means turning a small, Balkan nation into a pariah state. While the plan — which includes many evolving parts throughout — seems absurd, Conrad (De Niro) accurately points out that the U.S. did invade Grenada for (likely) ostensible purposes. One of my favorite moments was when a young, impressionable actress (Kirsten Dunst, who looks like…Kirsten Dunst) is used for a fabricated bombing scene in Albania, she is complimented for appearing authentic. I think this was a purposeful joke, as if the whole crew was so ignorant that they'd never seen what (most) Albanians actually look like. There was only one laugh-out-loud moment in this "dark comedy," and that was when the team went around the room giving their reasons for not voting. However, the plot gets a little too ridiculous when Woody Harrelson's character gets introduced — the apogee being when their plane crashes and they're not only fine, but barely hurt?? Wag the Dog reminded me of a simpler political era, which I think was similarly terrible, just in a different way. Could the group have pulled-off the vast majority of their machination in 2021? No, but I'm not sure they could've in 1997 either. Wag the Dog is something I wouldn't mind seeing updated and remade this decade, but then again, we can always watch Scandal.

"That Old Shoe." Satirical view over a president who can lie heavily to be reelected. Who knew back then that it would become so real nowadays to our eyes? Besides that very well written story, great cast, a lot of enjoyment!

If you are going to se one political satire, ser this one

Only a few unfeasible plot-moments, but very few at that; -Otherwise all too credible! It's no wonder that humanity is in significant trouble.