Dustin Hoffman
Stanley Motss
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Jan 9, 1998 · Wag the Dog: Directed by Barry Levinson. With Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Woody Harrelson. Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.
Wag the dog is, as a political term, the act of creating a diversion from a damaging issue usually through military force. It stems from the generic use of the term to mean a small and seemingly unimportant entity (the tail) controls a bigger, more important one (the dog).
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...
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- Comedy, Drama
- R
The tail wagging the dog is an idiom that usually refers to something important or powerful being controlled by something less so. Its earliest use is in the 1858 play Our American Cousin. The 1997 film Wag the Dog shortened the phrase and added the additional meaning of 'superfluous (military) action in order to distract from domestic scandal.'
Synopsis. The President (Michael Belson) is caught making advances on an underage girl inside the Oval Office, less than two weeks before the election. Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro), a top spin doctor, is brought in by presidential aide Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) to take the public's attention away from the scandal.
Aug 17, 2015 · When a scandal threatens the president's re-election, a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer team up to create a fake war. Watch the original theatrical trailer of Wag the Dog, a hilarious satire ...
Dec 20, 2022 · Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Barry Levinson, and more look back at the political satire so ahead of its time it practically saw the future. By Kristopher Tapley. December 20, 2022. WAG THE...
