Wag the
Dog
DOWN &
DIRTY:
Comedy: A political spin doctor
tries to save the President's
re-election chances by inventing
a phony war that will divert the
nation's attention away from his
sex scandal.
NITTY GRITTY:
Two weeks before his re-election,
the President is in trouble.
Accused by a teenage girl of
sexual misconduct, the White
House is nervous that this will
blow out of proportion and ruin
his chances of winning.
Conrad Brean (ROBERT De NIRO), a
mysterious political spin doctor,
is brought in to create a
diversion. He suggests staging a
fictitious war against Albania
and White House aide Winifred
Ames (ANNE HECHE), with no other
choice, helps him set the plan
into motion.
They meet with Hollywood producer
Stanley Motss (DUSTIN HOFFMAN),
who agrees to help produce the
"war," simply for the
fun of helming such an elaborate
production.
Knowing that television is the
most manipulative force they
have, the three start the story
rolling and let the press
unknowingly step in and take
their plan from there.
Along the way they get help from
songwriter Johnny Green (WILLIE
NELSON), and consultants Fad King
(DENIS LEARY) and Liz Butsky
(ANDREA MARTIN). They run into
setbacks, but Brean and Motss
continually spin the story around
in their favor, and at one point
create a "war hero" in
the form of Sgt. Schumann (WOODY
HARRELSON), who turns out to be a
drugged psychotic who's been in
the stockade for years.
As the election gets closer and
others try to derail their plans,
the spin doctors do everything in
their power to make sure the
President is re-elected.
THE ENDING:
The story spins out of control
when Schumann is killed by a
country redneck for messing with
his daughter. Motss spins the
death into a 'hero's' funeral. As
it looks like the President will
be re-elected, Motss has second
thoughts and tries to tell
someone about the phony war.
Brean has his men grab Motss and
Motss ends up dead of a heart
attack at his swimming pool.
Brean disappears to spin control
another day.
WHAT EVERYONE WILL BE
TALKING ABOUT:
Was this story fictional
or a documentary of the Clinton
presidency?
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