# Wag the Dog: What a waste of time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131 "2007-12-07T06:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/1 "2007-12-07T06:24:00Z")
Damn, I just pissed away two and a half perfectly good hours waiting for that “comedy” to get funny. The acting was superb, the direction and cinematography was tight (if a little bland at times), the story moved at a good pace, but there was just no funny. Why did everyone think this movie was so great when it came out? If anyone here likes it, can they tell me what they see in it? I promise to be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/2 "2007-12-07T06:31:18Z")
It’s not a comedy. It’s a pageant. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/3 "2007-12-07T06:45:35Z")
Satire != Comedy It’s essentially a Michael Moore style propoganda piece done as a non-documentary. You might try watching it again without the wrong expectation going in, as it actually is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/4 "2007-12-07T07:22:05Z")
Maybe you rented it in a \*Norbert \*box? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/5 "2007-12-07T08:16:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Satire != Comedy It’s essentially a Michael Moore style propoganda piece done as a non-documentary. You might try watching it again without the wrong expectation going in, as it actually is pretty good. [/QUOTE] I already deleted it. It got such hype back in 1998 during the whole presidential blowjob thing, and it’s so little talked about today, that it makes me think it was just a great movie if you saw it in 1998. Because it was just _such_ a cool coincidence that it came out right before Ol’ Bill got his knob polished and threatened to bomb Iraq. Anyway–so many other movies to see, so little time! As for re-watching Dustin Hoffman flicks, I’ll take I Heart Huckabees any day, thankyouverymuch. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Rosewater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mr.Rosewater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Rosewater)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/6 "2007-12-07T08:50:47Z")
The movie was based upon the book American Hero, by Larry Beinhart, which came out in 1993. Rather than faking a war in the Balkans, the book featured a fake war in Iraq. Rather than trying to distract the nation from Clinton’s scandals, the war is intended to raise George HW Bush’s poll numbers and guarantee him reelection in 1992. The beauty of it is that, with only minor changes, the concept could be applied to almost any President. I agree, though, that it wasn’t a great movie. It wasn’t a great book, either. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/7 "2007-12-07T10:56:02Z")
Nutball Anne Heche’s profanity filled bit right after the jet crashes was worth the price of admission… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/8 "2007-12-07T17:58:57Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] Because it was just _such_ a cool coincidence that it came out right before Ol’ Bill got his knob polished and threatened to bomb Iraq. [/QUOTE] Similarly, _[The China Syndrome](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0078966/)_ was released just a few weeks before Three Mile Island went kablooie. Makes you wonder sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/9 "2007-12-07T20:47:24Z")
I did love Anne Heche’s character. To expand on what I didn’t dig about the movie, it felt like an extra-long Onion article. You know how the Onion is the funniest thing on earth when you read the little blurbs, and then you read a full article and it’s just a joke stretched so far it goes from “funny” to “witty satire” to “clever satire” to “interesting idea” to “when will it end?” The movie was like that for me. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wag-the-dog-what-a-waste-of-time/429131/10 "2007-12-07T22:17:24Z")
I loved about 80% of it. The parts with Woody Harrelson went on too long and the farmhouse/shop thing didn’t work for me at all. But I’d still watch it again. > [@Mr. Rosewater](#): > > The beauty of it is that, with only minor changes, the concept could be applied to almost any President. When my wife saw it for the first time last year, she made GW Bush comparisons. Like you said, the “The Powers That Be would lie to you at the drop of a hat” angle is pretty nonpartisan and universal.