Wag The Dog (1997)

Just before an election, the US President is accused of molesting a teenage girl in the Oval Office.

Keen to divert interest away from the scandal, he orders his spin doctors to come up with something quickly. In consultation with a Hollywood producer, they invent a war against Albania.

The movie received a new lease on life in 1998 thanks to the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the concurrent situation in Iraq, and everyone wondered if President Clinton might bomb Iraq to achieve a similar purpose?

Robert De Niro is creepily effective as Conrad Brean, the tweedy, faceless spin doctor hired by White House aide Winifred Ames (Anne Heche), but best of all is Dustin Hoffman, who gives a hilarious performance as Stanley Motss, the tanned flamboyant Hollywood producer hired to film a phoney war.

Shot by Barry Levinson in a mere 29 days, this satire on the media and politics is a joy from start to finish.

Stanley Motss
Dustin Hoffman
Conrad Brean
Robert De Niro
Winifred Ames
Anne Heche
Fad King
Denis Leary
Johnny Green
Willie Nelson
Liz Butsky
Andrea Martin
Tracy Lime
Kirsten Dunst
Mr Young
William H Macy
Senator Neal
Craig T Nelson
Sergeant William Schumann
Woody Harrelson

Director
Barry Levinson