Wag the Dog

Wag the Dog

A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects.

R 1997 · 97 min · ★ 6.9 (1K) · Comedy, Drama

During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.

Directed by Barry Levinson · Written by Hilary Henkin

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Amazon VideoApple TV StoreGoogle Play MoviesYouTubeFandango At Home

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 44m together

Wag the Dog

Donnie Brasco

Both from Barry Levinson.

More from Barry LevinsonSee all →

The JuryThe Jury · 2004
The Jury
★ 9.02004
SeriesDrama
Set in New York City, the series brings the viewer into the jury room to watch the deliberators try to answer the many questions posed during a trial. As facts are exposed through flashbacks of testimony and crime footage, viewers will form their own opinions about the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Following each verdict, a final flashback will let viewers see the crime as it actually happened and reveal whether or not the jury made the right decision.
Homicide: Life on the StreetHomicide: Life on the Street · 1993
Homicide: Life on the Street
★ 8.11993
SeriesMysteryDrama
An American police procedural chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.
OzOz · 1997
Oz
★ 8.01997
SeriesCrimeDrama
The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.
DopesickDopesick · 2021
Dopesick
★ 8.02021
SeriesCrimeDrama
The story of how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history. Look into the epicenter of America's struggle with opioid addiction, from a distressed Virginia mining community, to the hallways of the DEA, and to the opulence of "one percenter" Big Pharma Manhattan.
The Larry Sanders ShowThe Larry Sanders Show · 1992
The Larry Sanders Show
★ 7.81992
SeriesComedy
Comic Garry Shandling draws upon his own talk show experiences to create the character of Larry Sanders, a paranoid, insecure host of a late night talk show. Larry, along with his obsequious TV sidekick Hank Kingsley and his fiercely protective producer Artie, allows Garry Shandling and his talented writers to look behind the scenes and to show us a convincing slice of behind the camera life.
Rain ManRain Man · 1988
Rain Man
★ 7.71988
MovieDrama
When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.
SleepersSleepers · 1996
Sleepers
★ 7.61996
MovieCrimeDrama
Two gangsters seek revenge on the state jail worker who during their stay at a youth prison sexually abused them. A sensational court hearing takes place to charge him for the crimes.
A Little PrincessA Little Princess · 1995
A Little Princess
★ 7.61995
MovieDramaFamily
When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth.
Donnie BrascoDonnie Brasco · 1997
Donnie Brasco
★ 7.51997
MovieCrimeDrama
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.
30 for 3030 for 30 · 2009
30 for 30
★ 7.52009
SeriesDocumentary
30 for 30 is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This currently includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011–2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website. The series has also expanded to include Soccer Stories, which aired in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and audio podcasts. This entry refers to the main Volumes of the series presented by ESPN
City on a HillCity on a Hill · 2019
City on a Hill
★ 7.32019
SeriesCrimeDrama
In early 90s Boston, an African-American District Attorney comes in from Brooklyn advocating change and forms an unlikely alliance with a corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran invested in maintaining the status quo. Together they take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown in a case that grows to encompass and eventually upend Boston’s city-wide criminal justice system.
Good Morning, VietnamGood Morning, Vietnam · 1987
Good Morning, Vietnam
★ 7.31987
MovieComedyDrama
A disk jockey goes to Vietnam to work for the Armed Forces Radio Service. While he becomes popular among the troops, his superiors disapprove of his humor.
Quiz ShowQuiz Show · 1994
Quiz Show
★ 7.21994
MovieHistoryDrama
Herbert Stempel's transformation into an unexpected television personality unfolds as he secures victory on the cherished American game show, 'Twenty-One.' However, when the show introduces the highly skilled contestant Charles Van Doren to replace Stempel, it compels Stempel to let out his frustrations and call out the show as rigged. Lawyer Richard Goodwin steps in and attempts to uncover the orchestrated deception behind the scenes.
TootsieTootsie · 1982
Tootsie
★ 7.21982
MovieComedyRomance
When struggling, out of work actor Michael Dorsey secretly adopts a female alter ego—Dorothy Michaels—in order to land a part in a daytime drama, he unwittingly becomes a feminist icon and ends up in a romantic pickle.
BorgiaBorgia · 2011
Borgia
★ 7.22011
SeriesAction & AdventureDrama
The name Borgia stands for betrayal, intrigue and corruption in the Vatican, which was the center of the world during the Renaissance.
Shades of BlueShades of Blue · 2016
Shades of Blue
★ 7.22016
SeriesDramaCrime
Sexy New York detective and single mother Harlee Santos fell in with a tight-knit group of dirty cops, taking bribes and protection money that she uses to provide the best life for her honest, talented daughter. But when she's trapped by the FBI and forced to inform on her own "brothers," she'll have to walk the fine line between love, loyalty, honor and betrayal, and try to keep it together for her daughter's future.

More Like This

Midnight CowboyMidnight Cowboy · 1969
Midnight Cowboy
★ 7.51969
MovieDrama
Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.
Bad CompanyBad Company · 2002
Bad Company
★ 5.52002
MovieActionAdventure
When a Harvard-educated CIA agent is killed during an operation, the secret agency recruits his twin brother.
Baise-moiBaise-moi · 2000
Baise-moi
★ 4.82000
MovieCrimeDrama
Nadine and Manu are two mad women, as tidy as can be, almost perfectionists. They have several things in common: extreme sex, drugs, beer and the trigger. They find the solution to their problems with guns and beware to those who dare to get in their way!
Battle RoyaleBattle Royale · 2000
Battle Royale
★ 7.32000
MovieDramaThriller
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do AmericaBeavis and Butt-Head Do America · 1996
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
★ 6.71996
MovieAnimationComedy
Slacker duo Beavis and Butt-Head wake to discover their TV has been stolen. Their search for a new one takes them on a clueless adventure across America, during which they manage to accidentally become America's most wanted.
Good Night, and Good Luck.Good Night, and Good Luck. · 2005
Good Night, and Good Luck.
★ 7.12005
MovieDramaHistory
The story of journalist Edward R. Murrow's stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.
Beauty and the DogsBeauty and the Dogs · 2017
Beauty and the Dogs
★ 7.02017
MovieCrimeDrama
When Mariam, a young Tunisian woman, is raped by police officers after leaving a party, she is propelled into a harrowing night in which she must fight for her rights even though justice lies on the side of her tormentors.
Meet the ParentsMeet the Parents · 2000
Meet the Parents
★ 6.72000
MovieComedyRomance
Greg Focker is ready to marry his girlfriend, Pam, but before he pops the question, he must win over her formidable father, humorless former CIA agent Jack Byrnes, at the wedding of Pam's sister. As Greg bends over backward to make a good impression, his visit to the Byrnes home turns into a hilarious series of disasters, and everything that can go wrong does, all under Jack's critical, hawklike gaze.
Cape FearCape Fear · 1991
Cape Fear
★ 7.31991
MovieDramaCrime
Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.
HitmanHitman · 2007
Hitman
★ 6.22007
MovieActionThriller
A genetically engineered assassin with deadly aim, known only as "Agent 47" eliminates strategic targets for a top-secret organization. But when he's double-crossed, the hunter becomes the prey as 47 finds himself in a life-or-death game of international intrigue.
LemmingLemming · 2005
Lemming
★ 6.52005
MovieDramaThriller
After the death of his boss's wife, a young engineer faces the sudden psychological metamorphosis of his own wife, seemingly possessed by the soul of the deceased...
Day for NightDay for Night · 1973
Day for Night
★ 7.81973
MovieComedyDrama
A committed filmmaker struggles to complete his latest project while coping with a myriad of crises, personal and professional, among the cast and crew.
Jules and JimJules and Jim · 1962
Jules and Jim
★ 7.51962
MovieDramaRomance
In the carefree days before World War I, introverted Austrian author Jules strikes up a friendship with the exuberant Frenchman Jim and both men fall for the impulsive and beautiful Catherine.
La ChinoiseLa Chinoise · 1967
La Chinoise
★ 7.01967
MovieDramaComedy
A small group of French students are studying Mao, trying to find out their position in the world and how to change the world to a Maoistic community using terrorism.
Forces of NatureForces of Nature · 1999
Forces of Nature
★ 5.51999
MovieRomanceComedy
Ben Holmes, a professional book-jacket blurbologist, is trying to get to Savannah for his wedding. He just barely catches the last plane, but a seagull flies into the engine as the plane is taking off. All later flights are cancelled because of an approaching hurricane, so he is forced to hitch a ride in a Geo Metro with an attractive but eccentric woman named Sara.
The NetThe Net · 1995
The Net
★ 6.11995
MovieCrimeDrama
Angela Bennett is a freelance computer systems analyst who tracks down software viruses. At night, she hooks up to the internet and chats to others 'surfing the net'. While de-bugging a new high-tech game for a cyber friend, she comes across a top secret program and becomes the target of a mysterious organization, who will stop at nothing to erase her identity and her existence in order to protect the project.
Last Tango in ParisLast Tango in Paris · 1972
Last Tango in Paris
★ 6.91972
MovieDramaRomance
A recently widowed American begins an anonymous sexual relationship with a young Parisian woman.
A Time to KillA Time to Kill · 1996
A Time to Kill
★ 7.41996
MovieCrimeDrama
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter