Based on a Book

Not only was Barry Levinson's comedy shot in a relatively fast period of 29 days, the satire of politics and show business feels as if it were made yesterday. There's a fresh spin quite evident here, a nervy satire of a presidential crisis and the people ... Read More

Not only was Barry Levinson's comedy shot in a relatively fast period of 29 days, the satire of politics and show business feels as if it were made yesterday. There's a fresh spin quite evident here, a nervy satire of a presidential crisis and the people who whitewash the facts. The main players are a mysterious Mr. Fix-It (Robert De Niro), veteran Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman), and a White House aide (Anne Heche). Can the president's molesting of a young girl be buried in the two weeks before an election? A war in Albania just might do the trick. In the good old days, the president would just invade. With modern technology, it's even cleaner. The hungry press looks for any lead, convenient misinformation is created by the latest Hollywood fakery ("all developed by the new James Cameron film") creating images and merchandise all instantly packaged. And it must be real, because it's on TV. David Mamet's script never questions the morals or the absolute secrecy needed to pull this thing off. He and director Barry Levinson have enough truth in the story to make you wonder what is real news and what is just promotion the next time you see CNN. Many of the supporting players impact the story with mere presence: Denis Leary as a quote man, Willie Nelson as a songwriter. The three leads are magnificent. With the similarities between history and this film, Wag will forever linked to the Monica Lewinsky saga. This video version contains a new minidocumentary focusing on the parallels of the film with the Bill Clinton scandal, including comments from director Barry Levinson and hosted by newsman Tom Brokaw. --Doug Thomas

"A funny, ingenious and outrageous political thriller joining Hollywood and the Bush administration in a revisionist fiction about the Gulf War." Los Angeles Times.Once upon a time, there was a mean, dying GOP chairman named Lee Atwater who had the most b... Read More

"A funny, ingenious and outrageous political thriller joining Hollywood and the Bush administration in a revisionist fiction about the Gulf War." Los Angeles Times.

Once upon a time, there was a mean, dying GOP chairman named Lee Atwater who had the most brilliant, insane, frightening and do-able idea ever concocted to assure that his man, George Bush, would retain the office of the president of the United States. And the only man on the face of the earth who could pull of such an elaborate scheme was none other than the world's most celebrated Hollywood director.

It's a sure-fire hit! A joint D.C./L.A. production that will play not in movie theaters but on the nightly news! Of course, hundreds of thousands of "extras" will die . . . . But, hey, that's show biz!


From the Paperback edition.