Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Anne Heche, Dennis Leary, Willy Nelson, Kirsten Dunst, Andrea Martin, William H. Macy, Craig T. Nelson, Woody Harrelson. Written by David Mamet. Directed by Barry Levinson.
There is 11 days left to go in the U. S. Presidential election, and wouldn't you know it, a young Firefly girl scout who visited the White Houses publicly charges the President with sexual misconduct. The President on a trip to China, summons veteran spin doctor Conrad "Connie" Breen (DeNiro) to help manage the crisis. He meets with the president's chief aide Winnifred (Heche) to begin the salvage operation, and decides the best defence is a diversion, a war with lowly, hateable Albania that will keep media attention off the president's sexual indiscretion until after the election. He then flies to Hollywood with Winnifred, and enlists successful film producer Stanley Motss (Hoffman). "You want me to produce your war?" Stanley asks. Connie replies, "It's a pageant. Like the Oscars." Now Stanley gets it.
He calls in a country songwriter for hire (Willy Nelson) to put together a patriotic, flagwaving anthem to gather support for the war. He hires a teenager (Dunst) to play a mythical Albanian girl who has lost her family and tries to survive under heavy gunfire. He brings in the Fad King (Leary), a marketing genius to merchandise the war effort. But, the President's opponent (Craig T. Nelson) with the help of a meddling CIA director (Macy) throws a monkey-wrench into things by announcing an end to the war. But Stanley says, "You think this is bad. This is nothing.", and decides to invent a war hero (Harrelson) that Albanian terrorists have captured, and who needs to be brought home, in order to keep the diversion going.
The message of the movie is that people aren't too cynical of the political process - they aren't cynical enough. In stark black and white, the movie title is explained. "Why does a dog wag its tail? Because it is smarter than its tail. If the tail were smarter, the tail would wag the dog." Well, here the tail is smarter. The characters are shown as conscienceless operators who care not for the issues or the truth, but in artfully dodging trouble and winning. To Stanley, this is just his "greatest picture". Connie is a hired gun, who does whatever it takes to get the job done. Winnifred and the rest of the White House staff just want to keep their jobs, and loath the idea of their opponent winning. Washington politicos are sent up unmercifully. A running joke is that even though they are lying, breaking laws and committing a massive fraud on the American public, Winnifred is constantly worried if people and actors they use are illegal aliens or not, because the president had previously been caught employing one. The sensational script is chalk full of great lines, and current references which make the premise plausible. For instance, Connie reminds Winnifred that during Reagan's presidency, when 200 plus marines were killed in the middle east, tiny little Granada was invaded for no particular reason, instantly diverting attention from the middle east debacle. The jokes come fast and furious, and lampoon both politicians and Hollywood types. I tend to favour really good black comedies and satires, and this is up there with greats like Network and The Player.
The cast is uniformly excellent. Hoffman is a riot as the fast talking, hyper-kinetic producer who feels undervalued by Hollywood for his accomplishments, and relishes the recogntion he gets for this "pageant". Because of his emphasis on dramatic roles, It's easy to forget how good Hoffman is with comedy (remember Tootsie). DeNiro is low-key and smooth, playing Connie as a rumpled, shabby fatherly type with a Machiavellian interior, where a facial gesture or a scratch can have someone killed. Heche is excellent as the pliable aide who has played her spin games in Washington, but is impressed with the new level of deceit to which Connie takes her. The rest of the cast from Leary to Willy, make this one of the best films of the year, and worthy of that Oscar recognition that Stanley wishes his pageant would get.
